Past Resurrected, Broken Future
by D. L. Squared
Summary: Picture between KC Grand Prix and Pharaoh's Memory Arc. An old enemy returns in the darkest of times for Yugi, and one of the greatest games begin, survival being the prize. Sry bad summary, Plz R&R.
1. At the End of the Horizon

**_Author's Note: Let me take care of this real quickly…_**

**_I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! All characters and storylines used in this story are owned by Kazuki Takahashi. Thanks!_**

_**One other thing: you might want to read the other ff I wrote, remake of the movie-it's definitely not the best piece of work, but there are some things in there you probably need to read before you read this.**_

_**And away we go…**_

A long, exhausting trip had finally come to an end. America had brought good fortune and learning experiences for them, but the gang was happy to finally come back home to Domino City. Carrying their heavy suitcases, the sun slowly began to set towards the west side of the city. There was a large time difference between the time in America and the time in Japan, so they had not grown sleepy yet, though they were tired from the long trip. Nonetheless, all were excited to go back home.

"First thing I will do is eat!" Jounouchi exclaimed. "I've missed the great food of Domino. And after such a long trip, it's just what I need."

"The second we get home, he's already complaining about his hunger," Honda sighed. "What a dimwit."

The group of four laughed. It looked like a happy time, but it seemed as if the particular journey for one would end soon.

"Hey Yugi, now that we have the Egyptian God Cards back, isn't it true that the other Yugi can get his memory back?" Anzu asked of him. With a somewhat sad look on his face, Yugi nodded.

"I know that the time is soon. Other I has waited long for that moment, and I am happy that soon he will be able to complete his quest," he said almost disappointingly.

Everyone saw Yugi's saddened face. They understood the bond between the two of them, knowing that they had been through so much. Together, they had overcome the unimaginable, including death. From each other alone, they had learned great life values along with morals. And, though impossible to see, both had embarked on a difficult quest in which the future was uncertain and their identities not fully known. It was obvious though that Yugi had not regretted a second of his time with his alter ego, Yami Yugi. Knowing that soon he would have to leave him only depressed him.

"Yugi," Jounouchi almost whispered, "don't be so down about it. You two have been through much, and if those memories remain with you, in your heart, he can never leave you."

Everyone nodded.

"Jounouchi," Yugi said softly. "You say such, well, corny things."

The gang could not help but laugh. Jounouchi often denied the fact that he did say some pretty corny things. Even then he was a bit bothered when told he had just made a stale statement. Regardless, he laughed along.

"Despite that, it's true, and I will always remember the times," he vowed.

Honda gave him a friendly slap on the back as they continued to walk home. The sun had completely set on the horizon, and they needed to be getting back. Eventually, they went their separate ways, off to their homes. It had been a long plane ride back to Domino, Japan. In a couple of days, they would be heading back to school, so they would need to readjust to the time zone and get good rest in order to prepare for their return to their studies.

Yugi gently knocked on the Game Shop door, which was also his house, and opened it. He walked in to see the downstairs, which was used as the store, dark and empty. The store had already closed. He quickly walked up the stairs nearby, which lead to the actual house of the building. His Grandpa had already arrived at home, and was sitting on the couch, watching the news quietly as Yugi walked in.

"Hey, Gramps," he greeted his Grandfather. "I'm home."

"According to reports, the murderer's victims' insides seemed to have somehow failed, resulting into death. There were no wounds on the outside of the bodies with the exception of the bruising on their heads, which is assumed to be caused by some heavy object used to knock them unconscious," he heard a lady's voice. Apparently, his Grandfather had maxed up the volume on the news, making it nearly impossible for him to hear anything else. Finally, he saw Yugi standing in the doorway and turned the volume way down.

"Hello, Yugi," Sugoroku greeted back. "Did you kids take the long route home, or were you just walking extra slow in order to stall from coming home? I swear it took you forever to get home."

"Sorry," he apologized, but he knew his Grandpa was only kidding. He put his suitcase down by the couch.

"Must have been some trip," said Sugoroku cheerfully. "America's quite the place, isn't it?"

"I'll admit that it's impressive, at least from the little I saw of it," he agreed.

On the sofa, near the couch, Yugi's mother sat grouchily, watching the television. A bit startled, Yugi approached her. Her mood had seemed worse than normal.

"Hi, Mom," he said gently. He showed an innocent smile.

She didn't respond.

"How are you doing?" he asked, trying to start at least somewhat of a conversation. Any kind of conversation was almost rare between the two of them these days. Yugi knew it, and he wanted to change that.

Again she had no response, continuing to angrily listen the news, which continued its report on some mysterious murder. Yugi, not purposely, stood in her view so she could not see the television. Again, he continued to attempt to make conversation with her, but she still ignored him.

"Mom, are you…" he tried to ask if she was doing okay.

"Goddamn it, boy! You're always out and about, moving along constantly! How 'bout you put that to good use and move out of the way so I can see the TV?" she interrupted, finally saying something. Intimidated, he moved out of the way as his mom snarled at him.

"I think I'm gonna go to bed. Good night!" he said happily as he lifted his suit case and went to his room. His Grandpa was the only one that wished him good night.

Walking into his room, Yugi shut the door behind him. His mother was angrier than ever. He understood that their relationship wasn't ideal; they didn't talk much nor get along very well, and they didn't seem to spend much time together. Of course, he had not a father for most of his life, which meant she had no husband. Even so, the two hadn't really created a strong relationship, which Yugi regretted. He loved his mother and family, and didn't want to lose them. He would try harder to make a bond between them work! He would not let his family become more dysfunctional than it already seemed!

A bit tired and frustrated, Yugi fell into his bed, becoming a bit saddened about almost everything he thought of.

It was the middle of the week, on one of the days that always seemed long to Yugi. Quickly, he prepared for school, packing his bag and getting dressed. Anzu would be meeting him outside soon, and he seemed to be running late. Finally, he was ready, and threw his backpack over his shoulder and headed out of his room.

When he opened his door, however, his mother was standing there, holding a broom. It was assumed she was listening to 'Yugi's self conversations'. Again, Yugi had been talking to his other half, which had become normal every morning. It was fair to say that his mother was a little scared by this, but at this point it would only be another frustration to add onto her stress.

"Hello," Yugi said to her. "I'd like to stay and talk, but I'm going to be late for school."

He tried to walk away, but she grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back by her.

"Why do you always leave?" she began to complain. "You're never here anymore! You're always off with someone else, or gone doing something _more important_!"

Yugi had somewhat of a clueless look on his face, unsure of what exactly it was she was referring to.

"You just don't care about anyone but yourself, do you?" she continued. "You don't need anyone! Not your friends, not your family! Hell, that's why I hear you talking to yourself, because you're the only person that's worthy talking to in your eyes!"

"That's not true!" he argued, but it may have been a mistake.

"Little bastard! You're just like you're father: you're never here, and you never care! Never give a damn! Always gone doing something else and not being there for what's important!" she was screaming at this point.

Viciously, she threw him to the ground. He got back up as she began smacking him with the broom. He ran, but she chased after him, continuing to hit him and scream "Devil child". When he reached the front door, she gave one final curse at him and went back upstairs.

Anzu was outside, waiting for him with his Grandpa, when she saw him come dashing out the door, running away from his home as fast as he could. Worried, she waved good-bye to Sugoroku and followed after him. Grandpa was aware of what had happened. He went inside to try to discuss the matter with her.

Yugi continued running and didn't look back. This morning, it was the worst. As hard as he had tried, he could not speak calmly or bond with his mother, and it always resulted into some kind of disagreement. More recently, she had been more abusive, throwing him around a bit and cursing at him more frequently. None of the previous days could even compare to that one morning. Frustrated, confused, and upset, Yugi fled from home, crying all the way.

Everyone's favorite time at school, lunch, had come. Jounouchi and Honda saved a table for their group of six. Otogi would be joining them as well as Bakura, so they needed to get a table before the crowded lunch area could take it. They all grabbed their lunches and took a seat at their table.

Topics of conversation were like any high school, but all were stopped when the group noticed how unusually quiet Yugi was being. Normally, he would at least listen and laugh with them, but that day, he was only silent and looked away. The rest of the people at the table looked at each other, knowing that Yugi was down and they needed to make him feel better.

"Hey Yug, what's wrong?" asked Otogi.

Yugi had no response, only a sigh.

"C'mon. We know somethin's bothering you," Honda told him. "You can't hide it from us."

Yugi turned his head to all of them, seeing their faces with expressions of concern. It made him feel a little better to know that his friends would support him.

"Well," he tried to begin explaining, but he couldn't find the words. "It's, well, stuff at home."

"Like what?" Bakura asked for specific details.

"Like, my mom," he admitted. "Things have just been really tense is all. Arguments, complaining, just lots of things. I know we haven't had the greatest of relationships, but how did it come to this? It just seems like everything's out of control at home, and that it's falling apart."

This was among the first times that Yugi spoke to them of the controversy at his house. As far as they knew, everything was fine over there, but apparently they had assumed very wrong. The thought of this being the reason why Yugi had seemed so dispirited for a few days rose to their minds. Anzu then understood why Yugi was in a hurry to leave that morning: he had gotten in another argument with his mother.

"Has it always been this bad?" Bakura asked.

"It's never been great, but never this bad before," he said. "I've tried to work things out with her, but she just won't listen. I really want to make things better, but how can I when she won't let me?"

No one really knew what to say. The fact was that only two of them, Jounouchi and Bakura, really understood the pain of having family problems. Jounouchi had been separated from his sister because of his parents' divorce, and Bakura was basically abandoned, left to live on his own in an apartment. Even so, understanding how he felt wouldn't make him feel much better.

"Yugi, you shouldn't let her bother you," Anzu told him. "Don't believe what she says. You're great, and you, and everyone else, knows it. I'm sure she's just frustrated with her husband not being around."

"And you always have us," Jounouchi reminded him. "We're always here for you, man."

"Uh yeah, what they said," Honda said.

Yugi finally broke a smile.

"Thanks, guys," he thanked. And despite the fact he left out a large detail, he was not as worried about it anymore. They smiled at him and continued eating their lunches, trying to brighten the mood.

Nearby, Seto Kaiba ate his lunch alone, listening to the conversations around him.


	2. Shadowed: The Strong Soul

Some days passed, and conditions at Yugi's home did not improve. His mother continued assaulting him with curses and sometimes light beatings. Each time this occurred, Yugi became, little by little, more depressed. It upset him that despite the fact he kept trying to talk with her and work things out that she refused to do the same. For among the first times in a while, Yugi was having doubts that the constant feuding between him and his mother would end.

Luckily, his friends had been there for him. He would always come to the school or go somewhere with them upset or distracted, but they would always make him feel better. At first, he was worried about telling them what had been happening at home, thinking they may not understand, but he had been glad he had once he saw what they did for him and how much they meant to him. Yami Yugi even comforted him, especially during the night when he was seemingly alone. Though they could never take his troubles off his mind, his friends could always uplift his spirit.

A windy yet sunny day, Yugi, Honda, Jounouchi, Otogi, and Anzu were heading back to Yugi's house after school. His Grandfather again received a shipment of new cards, and the gang was curious to see. Like previous days, Yugi was still bothered by his home conflicts, but would not let that stop him and his friends from having a good time. Coming within a few blocks of his home, Yugi laughed along with the gang's crude jokes and stories.

_Today will be a good day…today is a good day,_ he thought to himself, hoping nothing would go wrong. _Nothing can ruin it, and nothing will._

Being only a few buildings down from Yugi's house, Anzu noticed Yugi's mother's car parked outside of the house, which was unusual. Yugi looked closely at the small, green car, and noticed the trunk was open, along with the back passenger doors. Inside the car, some boxes were shoved neatly in the trunk, and two large, heavy suitcases rested on the back seats. A shocking, fearful and hurtful feeling was sent through Yugi. He saw what was going on, and he wasn't going to let it happen!

"She can't…" he said to himself. The others looked down at him, understanding the looks of the situation.

He ran ahead of the others and passed his Grandfather, who was standing outside and ran into the house, the door already open. Sugoroku had tried to call to his grandson, but he was deaf to almost everything at that time. Tripping a few times, Yugi dashed up the stairs to his mother's room, where she stood over her bed, packing her final suitcase.

"Mom, what are you doing?" he asked her, panting and nearly crying.

"What you and my no-good husband did to me," she growled softly. Her eyes began to water with tears, but assumingly not tears of sadness.

"How could you?" Yugi screamed at her. "I won't let you do this! Please tell me…that you aren't really…"

His mother turned her back to him, finishing putting her clothes into her suitcase. She ripped her alarm clock off her nightstand, and shoved it in one of the side pockets. Quickly, she zippered the pocket shut, completing her packing. All the while, Yugi continued shouting at her.

"Why? Why would you do this?" he shouted, tears beginning to fill his eyes. "Was it really this bad? Was _I_ really this bad? Is this what we deserved?"

She lifted her suitcase and began to walk away. Viciously, Yugi grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her towards him.

"Why won't you talk to me?" he asked. "It doesn't have to be this way!"

"Yes, it does," she nearly mumbled. An angry yet somewhat sad look covered her face. "It is for the better."

"What about Grandpa? What about me? What about you? What about _us_?" he continued asking questions, which finally began to annoy her. "Don't you think we still have a chance? We do, but why won't you grab it?"

She attempted to walk away, but Yugi pulled her back. He wanted answers, and would not release his hold until she gave him some.

"We need time apart," she finally began to answer. "Nothing's working here, and there is no need to keep kicking a horse that will not run."

"What are you saying? That we'll never get along? That all this between us will never become right? That there is no hope?" he asked of his relationship with her. "Well you're wrong! There is, but your stubbornness stops you from seeing something you know is there!"

"Yugi, you must let me go! I don't belong here. It's been made clear," she said trying to walk away again.

"No! I won't! You need to stay! You need to!" he held her harder.

"In this shit hole? No! I won't waste my time anymore," she exclaimed.

"You won't be the catalyst of our destruction! You can't do this to us, Mom! It can't end like this!" he began as he held back his tears. "I won't let it come to this. It's not over! I refuse to believe it is, just as I refuse to believe you want to tear us apart! Why can't you? Why have you lost faith? Why have you let the thoughts of hopelessness plague your mind?"

She looked away as pushed her chin up for her to look at him in the eye. She made a final attempt to escape from him, but again ended in utter failure.

"Move, Yugi…" she told him in a bit of a louder tone, but he interrupted her.

"No!" he continued to defy her. "I won't let this happen!"

"Yugi," her voice grew louder still.

His screaming was loud enough to be heard from outside, where his friends could only listen to him cry. They, too, were shocked and greatly saddened by this turn of events; sad for their friend, who was possibly about to suffer a great loss, and shocked that something like this could happen to him. Unsure of what to do in this situation, they stood outside and waited, afraid they would only worsen the situation if they entered.

His screaming would continue on for only another minute. His mother wanted to leave before it could get any worse. She had hoped to be gone before he arrived home, but she had been too slow, and now was stuck with the guilt of confronting her son. Without any other idea in mind, she raised her hand and with all her might, slapped him across the face. The force was so strong he released his hold and was pushed back, but did not fall. He only stood in shock that his mother, with her own hands, had struck him. It was not so much the pain from the slap that hurt him, but that had never once put a hand on him until that moment. She had hit him with a broom, but not extremely violently, and it hardly hurt at all. However, this had been among the worst of pains Yugi had ever felt.

Yugi stood in the room, staring at her in shock. _Perhaps…it was this bad_, he thought to himself. He held his cheek where she had struck him as he watched her lift her suitcase back into her hand and slowly walked out the door, only she shed tears as she proceeded. He continued to stand there, debating whether to chase her or not. He fell to his knees and began to cry. He came to the realization that his mother was serious about leaving, about moving out, about abandoning him and his grandfather. He continued to think of it over and over in his head. _Is this for the better? Is this what she wants? What have I done?_

Time seemed to be put in slow motion at that time.

As a mere infant, hardly a year old, Yugi played alone in his sandbox, with his small, plastic shovel and pale. Dumping out a pile of sand back into the sandbox, Yugi looked around the large park of Domino City, seeing a few other children run around in the grass or going down the slide or gliding on the swings. Though he wished to join them, he couldn't help but fear of spoiling their fun. In that case, he continued sitting by himself.

He looked down for a moment, to again fill his pale, but when he looked up again, a familiar woman sat with him. She had gotten her self a little shovel, and was helping him fill the pale with him. She smiled at him, brushing through his hair, which was just growing in.

"I'll play with you. You don't need to be alone," she said to him. He knew this woman as her mother, the one that had taken care of him since birth. He could not recall any father in his life, him being gone constantly and never sending the family a message of any sort. Of course, he knew not about the unsent messages, but he did know that she had truly been the only one that was his guardian, his parent.

Happily, the babyish Yugi smiled, and the two of them joyfully played together until the afternoon faded to evening.

Time began moving at its normal pace again after Yugi heard the slam of a car door. He remembered! It hadn't been all bad before! He knew that though he could not bring that memory to the present, there was still a chance, just as there had always been, just as he had always knew. He stood up from his knees and ran after her. He would give one last chase!

Yugi's mom threw the last suitcase into the car and slammed the door shut. Sugoroku had again tried to talk to her, but she merely shouldered him out of the way. Jounouchi, Honda, Otogi, and Anzu, then approached her, but were almost without words to say to her.

"Mrs. Mutou, wait," Jounouchi tried to talk to her as she pulled the car keys from her coat pocket and opened the driver's door. "You can't leave him…"

"Shut up," she snapped as she went in. She slammed the door shut, buckled her seat belt in, and started the car. Tears began flowing like a river down her cheeks. Hesitantly, she put the car in reverse.

Running as fast as he could, Yugi leaped out the doorway. His mom was already pulling out, away from the house. He stopped only for a second, and then ran towards the car, trying to stop her.

"It's not over!" he yelled to her, and she did indeed hear him through the windows, much to her distress.

Looking at him for only a brief bit, she turned away, tears still rolling down her face, putting the car into drive. The car began pulling away from him.

"Wait! We can make it right!" he called to her, but the car did not stop, only continued down the straight street.

Knowing he would not outrun a car, Yugi chased after his mother anyway. He continued yelling to her, repetitively pleading for her to stop and come back. While she could not hear him, she knew very well what he was saying, and continued driving. Every now and then, she'd look in her mirrors, and watch as her son helplessly chased and called for her, crying all the way. Eventually, she reached a turn, which she was going to take. At this point, she turned the car away from the street of her old home, and Yugi, who had ran after her all the way down the street.

"Don't go…please…I love you…" he gave a final shout as the car turned away and was out of sight. It was over. She would not come back. Again, he fell to his knees, bawling in tears to the sky, his voice echoing down the city streets. "Mother!"

He didn't care how out of breath or how tired he was. He kept on screaming for her, in a desperate hope that she might come back. This hope would not be fulfilled.

He was even smaller in their view, but Yugi's grandfather and friends saw him down the street. They saw him attempt to bring her back, running that far to try and stop her departure. They heard him continue crying for her, despite that she was gone and not coming back. Even though this was not their own family, they cried for him, knowing that he was deeply hurt. Worst of all, they almost did nothing, and felt that there was nothing they could have done, to stop the pain they foresaw from coming.

Yugi spent several minutes at the end of the street where his mother turned away, continuing to cry and shout. Finally, he made his way back to the house, where his friends and grandpa waited for him together. He could not stop the tears from flowing at this point, and nor could they.

"Yugi," Anzu walked up to him. The others followed closely behind her. "We're so sorry!"

Her words, and everyone else's, seemed to go in one of his ears and out the other. His grandfather went to hug him and give him a shoulder to cry on, but Yugi walked away from it. He went inside and up to his room, locking the door and laying on his bed.

"My God," Honda said. "Will he be okay?"

Sugoroku could not respond.

"He has to be okay. It's Yugi, right Mr. Mutou?" Anzu asked him. He shook his head, wiping his tears away.

"I'm not sure. We can only hope," he told them. "He took it much worse than I expected him to."

Yugi cried into his pillow, questions running through his mind on how this could have happened. He cried not just because of sadness and a feeling of abandonment, but anger. His mother was trying to tear his family apart, and he couldn't stop her! To make it worse, it seems like his mother blamed many things on him, and he felt that he was probably her reason for leaving. Thinking of this, Yugi couldn't help but feel responsible for driving her out.

In spirit form, Yami Yugi appeared next to him. Yugi looked up, and even though he was not really there, Yugi somehow saw him next him. He took only one look and turned away. Yami leaned closer to him.

"Aibou, this was not your fault. Don't blame yourself," he told him. Yugi only ignored him and continued crying into his arms. "Hikari, I understand how you must feel…"

"Oh, so you've been through exactly what I've been through? How do you know? You have no memory!" Yugi yelled.

"Please, calm yourself. You tried to bring her back, but she did not see things as you did," Yami tried to explain. "And how do you know that she was trying to tear your family apart? Perhaps it was another reason."

"What other reason could there be? She never got along with me, or Grandpa!" he said. "With my dad never here, she needed someone to blame, so why not blame us, huh?"

Yami Yugi was sad for his friend, but hated to see him be so stubborn.

"You have a reason to be upset, but don't be crazy," he continued to try to calm him. "You're better than this, Aibou. Be strong. Things'll become right, you'll see…"

"Stop! Just stop!" Yugi snapped. "You have no idea what this is like! Maybe you know what it is I feel, but you don't know how painful it is! She's gone now, and there's nothing I can do about it! She's gone!"

Viciously, he got off the bed and snatched the picture of him and his mother off the little table next to him. He took one disgusted look at it, and chucked it as hard as he could at the wall. The frame that surrounded it shattered and broke to pieces. Just that little sight of his mother upset him, and made him oppose her even more. Yugi found an empty shoe box nearby, and shoved all the pieces of the frame and the picture into it. He then buried it under his bed, not wanting to even think about it anymore. To him, his mother was dead.

Downstairs, Yugi's friends and grandpa heard the breaking of glass. Worried, they ran upstairs and tried to open the door, only to unsurprisingly find the door was locked. They knocked and called for him, but Yugi did not respond.

"Yugi, open the door!" his grandpa tried to demand, but it did not work.

"Please, come out," Anzu pleaded.

"I'm going to go outside and make sure he didn't try anything crazy with glass," Otogi said as he ran outside.

Somehow, though unable to see him, they knew he didn't hurt himself. They knew he was too good for that. However, they did know that he was still in pain, and they were willing to try anything to make him feel better.

"I know that you're upset, but you've gotta get over this," Honda told him.

"Yeah, you're too good to get over pissy about this," Jounouchi explained. "Yugi, you're incredible, overcoming so many odds, even when doubted. You can get over this one, too, man. I know you can! Please, for us…"

There was nothing else anyone could say. They would wait for him downstairs for him to come to them. They cared not how late it was or how late it would get. What was important was the emotional health of their friend.

"Aibou, Jounouchi is right. It's been clear to us that there is nothing you can't overcome," Yami Yugi continued talking to him. "Nothing was ever easy, and this now may be the hardest one, but it is not impossible, especially for you. You are strong, and there is no doubt to it. Don't give up."

Yugi stood frozen next to his bed. He was reminded of his inner strength, but he still needed time to think, to recover, before he could show himself. Slowly, he sat back on his bed, still crying, but finally having the strength to wipe his tears away.

The night was late, close to midnight. Yugi still had not come out of his room, but at least no fearful noises came from there. They would wait until morning if they had to, but that would not be necessary. Yugi finally left his room to join them.

"Yugi, let me explain some things," Sugoroku went to him. Everyone else followed. "You're mother, she had a few problems. With your father never home, it was hard for her to raise you. She also felt a bit of loneliness, thinking he'd rather be other places than with his family. Luckily, she always had you to keep her company, and to spend time with and have some relaxation. Maybe you two never always saw eye to eye, but you did get along for the most part, and though it wasn't always obvious, she cared for you deeply, like you care for her."

Yugi felt a bit better after hearing that.

"But then you were growing up," he continued. "And you began spending a lot of time with your friends, and even before that, putting together your puzzle. She began feeling that you too, were breaking away, and she was so afraid of losing you. Don't think that you have done wrong, Yugi, because you haven't. You did your best to keep your relationship up with her, despite the fact you were getting older, but she just didn't understand nor accept that you were growing up and needed your own time. That's why she became so unhappy. She thought that you were gone like her husband, when in reality you were always there. She used that broom on you in hopes that you would return to her, but that was stupid. She only shoved you farther. And when she realized that, she felt that it was hopeless and that she didn't need to stay anymore. I tried to talk to her, and talk her out of it, but she had already made her decision. I'm sorry, Yugi. I too, tried to make her stay, but I failed as well."

Despite all that his grandfather told him, he still felt responsible for her leaving. And even though the past few weeks with her had not been well, he still missed her. He wished he could have made her come back. He stepped towards his Grandpa, and began crying in his shoulder.

"Grandpa," he sobbed, "why didn't she tell me? I could have helped her, and stopped all this from happening. It didn't have to go like this."

Sugoroku hugged his grandson as he cried harder.

"I know," he said to him, "but it was not your fault, and don't think for a second that it was."

Yugi's friends gathered around him, and hugged him as well, even Yami Yugi.

"She'll realize that she made a mistake, and she'll come back," Anzu assured him.

"In the mean time, you still have us here for you," Honda reminded him. "And we're not goin' anywhere."

For the first time in seemingly forever, Yugi smiled. He was still very upset, but the great feeling of love was now with him.

"Thank you," he told them all. "I love you guys. You are possibly the only family I have ever had."

**_Author's note: The conflict that is seen in chapters one and two is not what the story is based around, nor is it the storyline. It is just one of many problems that will occur, I promise! You'll see a bit further in what direction it's truly heading toward._**


	3. An Unlonely Walk

Despite the many incidents that had occurred in the previous days, especially of recent, Yugi was able to keep a smile on his face. Obviously he was still very bothered by it, but his attitude and spirit maintained its normal state. Yugi failed to disappoint the people around him by doing so. His friends knew he was stronger than his deceiving looks, but they had not expected him to fight through this rough time as strong as he was. Still, they would watch him, just to be sure that he was fine. Yet they knew Yugi had to fight this on his own, and thus far he had been doing terrifically.

After school some days after his mother's departure, Yugi had decided to walk home alone. Fulfilling his request to be by himself for a bit, his friends decided to hang out around the school after the final bell rang. They worried, but understood that he needed time to himself.

In front of the school, the gang discussed on what could be done for Yugi.

"I don't think I've seen anyone so strong," Honda admitted. "He's gone through a lot, possibly to Hell and back, and yet he still stands tall…well he still stands."

"I know," Otogi, and everyone else, agreed. "But you can see it in him. He's still hurt from it."

"Duh, who wouldn't be?" Jounouchi remarked. "What happened was what he was trying to prevent, so he's not just upset because she's gone, but also because he feels he failed in his efforts to stop what he probably foresaw."

Anzu looked away to the exit of the school premises. The gate was still open, and she pictured Yugi walking away from them for some reason.

"I wish we could do something for him," she said. "He's done and been through so much, and now when he needs us, there's nothing we can do."

"The only thing we can do is be there for him, and support him. We know he has to overcome this pain on his own, but we can help him," said Jounouchi. "That's how it's almost always been for everyone: not so much that we pulled each other over the mountain, but that we gave each other the push that helped us to climb over it."

They loved Jounouchi at the time, because he spoke the truth.

"You're right," Honda told him. "I still wish there was something more that we could do."

Almost mysteriously, Bakura approached them. He was aware of the troubles going on at Yugi's home, but unaware of what had happened to him. Curious to know, and acting supportive, Bakura had come to ask them of Yugi's condition.

"Hello," he greeted kindly.

The gang said hello to him as well.

"I don't mean to be nosy, but Yugi, how has he been lately?" he asked them.

They had figured Bakura was a good enough friend for him to know what had occurred. So they all explained the story of Yugi's mother leaving and Yugi being a bit depressed lately.

"Oh my, that's horrible!" Bakura said, but deep inside he could only grin. "I thought I had noticed something terribly wrong with him lately. I am sorry, but I wish I could say that to him."

"It's okay, Bakura," Anzu told him. "I'm sure Yugi knows you support him, too."

Bakura's dark side could only laugh. He knew Yugi possessed a majority of the Millennium items. And he knew now at this time, Yugi was more distracted and fragile than any other time. He figured it would be a perfect time to strip Yugi of the ancient items…

Once again, no one seemed to notice Kaiba walking out the door of where they were talking, and hearing the words said around him.

* * *

Yugi arrived at home, where his grandfather was there to greet him. Yugi said hello, ran upstairs, and dropped off any school supplies he had brought from school. As he usually did whenever he went anywhere, he grabbed his deck and duel disk, and ran back downstairs. He decided he would go for a walk and give him some time to think things over. To his hopes, it would make him feel better.

"I'm going to go for a walk for a little bit, Grandpa," he said. "I'll be back in a bit."  
He moved to walk out the door, but Sugoroku stopped him.

"Yugi," he was hesitant to let his grandson go, "Should I go with you?"

"No, it's fine," he took his Grandpa's hand off his shoulder. "I just need a bit of alone time. I'll be back before dinner."

Yugi smiled at him, trying to assure him he would be fine. Eventually, his grandpa gave in and let him go. Yugi waved to him and walked down the street, opposite of the direction his mother left. Sugoroku watched him until he could no longer be seen.

* * *

He had reached the park near the central of the city. He had been walking around for quite a few hours, passing familiar areas such as the Domino Museum, the dock which Yugi and Jounouchi had dueled nearly to the death, and the building where he first encountered Doma. A bit tired from the long walk, he took a seat on a park bench nearby. He reflected about past events with his friends, and began to feel a little bit better. At that time, his friends were all he thought he had, and so his thoughts concentrated on that. Of course he was looking more for escape from his darker thoughts. It was all he had thought of for the past few days, though it was hidden from everyone else. For a bit, it seemed to work, but each memory began leading to some other dark event.

While sitting, his Yami appeared before him. He had been pretty speechless lately as well, but merely because he did not know how to make his friend feel better. He knew the truth of what Yugi was keeping from everyone else, but was not confronting him about it.

"Aibou, did I ever tell you how sorry I was?" he told him.

"Yeah," Yugi said. "But you don't need to apologize. You didn't do anything. I should apologize to you, for snapping at you like that the other day. It wasn't your fault, and you couldn't do anything about it."

Yami Yugi's spirit sat next to him.

"You're forgiven," he told him.

"Thanks," Yugi paused. "It's just a confusing time right now. Not sure what I'm going to do. I can't hide it forever, and I can't run from it. But at the same time, I don't want to fight it."

"Aibou," he began, "you have overcome life and death, black, and psychological challenges. Emerging victorious through these hardships prove you to be strong. As far as I see it, there is nothing you can't overcome, and the fact that you can stand above all of it in the end shows just how valuable a person like you is to society. And people will realize that the world needs someone like you, Aibou."

Yugi smiled and was in appreciation of his friend's high compliment. But even this compliment led to something depressing he wished not to be reminded of. _Other I, you won't be with me in the future_, he thought to himself. _You will be gone. What will I be once you are?_

Being connected with him, Yami Yugi sensed what his friend was feeling, and knew what he was thinking. He was upset at himself at first for reminding Yugi of it, but realized he didn't even hint at it, and it was just Yugi's depression getting to him again.

"You will be everything you are now: an inspirational, strong willed, caring character," Yami Yugi replied to Yugi's thoughts. "It was not me or the puzzle that gave you what you have, but you, and it is because of you I have what I have now. You gave me a light, and therefore give me the ability to fight. Aibou, why must you make me repeat everything, especially the sappy things?"

Yugi couldn't help but laugh. He couldn't have been happier to have Yami Yugi with him. He made him feel so much better, and he spoke the truth to him.

"Thank you, Other I. You make me feel better," he told him.

"Aibou, you know I am always here for you, no matter what," Yami Yugi reminded him.

"Yes, that's why I will restore your memories," he assured him.

The sun was beginning to set and the air was becoming cooler. Yugi figured he should start heading home. His grandfather was probably worried already, and he had told him he would be home for dinner. He lifted himself off the bench as Yami Yugi returned to the puzzle. He turned away and began walking home.

He had thought it had been too quiet and too lonesome, but ignored it the entire trip. But indeed his ignored instinct was correct. Someone had been following him for a majority of his walk. Continuing to avoid his instinct, Yugi kept on walking home, not knowing that the person that someone he sensed stalking him was close behind him. Yugi finally began feeling so uncomfortable that he turned around to see if somebody was there. And right behind him stood a tall, mighty muscular man. That was all he would see however. He did not see his face or any other features, because the second he turned around, he was brutally assaulted with punches and kicks, and then hit with something hard as a boulder in the head. Yugi's sight quickly went blurry until he saw only black. He could remember the blood trickling from his nose and lying on the hard ground. Before he went to unconsciousness, he heard someone whisper a single sentence to him.

"Welcome to Hell…"


	4. Without a Trace, Yugi Disappears

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!

Instead of waking to his alarm, which is what he normally woke up to on school days, Jounouchi was rudely awoken by the loud ringing of his phone next to his bed. Surprised, he fell out of bed and slowly got himself back up. Grumpily, he reached to next of his bed and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" he said in a low, drowsy voice. His eye lids were only half-way open.

"Jounouchi! I'm so glad you picked up!" it was Yugi's Grandpa.

"Hey, Mr. Mutuo. Uh, what are you callin' so early for?" he asked almost rudely, but maintained a polite tone.

"Well," he stuttered, "Yugi, did you see him last night?"

"No. I didn't even hear from him," Jounouchi said. "Why? Did something happen?"

"Oh. It's just, he didn't come home last night. I thought maybe he went to your house or somewhere for the night and just forgot to call me," he told him. "But if he's not at your house, then I don't know where he is."

Jounouchi was wide awake now. He regretted not disobeying his friend's wishes and not walking home with him. For a moment he panicked, but thought perhaps someone else might know something. Or maybe he would just show up at school, though that was not likely.

"I'm sorry that I can't help you, but maybe someone else knows something," Jounouchi suggested. "Or maybe we'll get lucky and he'll show up at school. I'll do what I can to help you find him. As soon as school's out, I'll call ya."

"Thank you, Jounouchi. I hope he's okay. I'm really worried about him right now," Sugoroku sighed. "I…don't want anything crazy to happen to him, or for him to do anything crazy."

"He'd never do anything crazy. He's Yugi. He's better than that," Jounouchi tried to assure him.

"Yes, you're right," Sugoroku agreed. "Okay well just talk to me when you can. Good-bye."

Jounouchi said his good-byes and hung up. He quickly got dressed and ready for school, and then ran out the door, hoping he could possibly arrive early to search for his friend.

* * *

When he woke up, he could not feel his feet touching the ground. Slowly, he opened his eyes, most of his body in pain. Looking around, he realized that indeed his feet were a few feet from the ground. His entire body was hanging on a wall, be dangled by the chains that held his arms above him. He was in a large, round, dark room, the lighting making it look orange. It was cool, scarily dark, and silent, but Yugi was not very frightened. He had been in creepier situations than this. But he did not understand who was doing this or why he was there.

Yami Yugi came out in spirit form, standing before him.

"Are you okay?" he asked him first and foremost.

"I think so," Yugi replied. "I think that I got mugged, but I don't know where I am or why."

A slam was heard.

"Go away! Quick!" Yugi demanded.

"Why?" Yami Yugi questioned.

"Because it's probably you they want."

"What makes you think that?"

"Since when has it been any other way?"

"Good point," he said as he disappeared back to the puzzle.

An echoing sound came through to the room. There were only two exits from the room, and one of them was sealed shut. The other exit had a door, but the noise came echoing from there. He could not see what was coming, for there was no window on the door. Slowly, the door creaked open, and someone entered.

"Dim the light, and then darkness shall move its way forth and consume the rest," it was a man with a pretty low voice, but hauntingly familiar to him.

"Who are you? What do you want?" he called to the figure. He could only see a shadowy figure across the dark room, but seeing it he immediately knew who he was up against.

"I am here…to bring upon your fate," he said.

* * *

He had asked several people at school, but no one knew anything. His search before school began resulted into no traces of his friend. The fact that he was not at school proved to Jounouchi that Yugi was indeed missing. Frantically, Jounouchi gathered Bakura, Anzu, Honda, and Otogi back to Yugi's Game Shop house to organize a search. Despite the fact that it was almost pouring outside, they insisted that they search for Yugi, unsure of what kind of trouble he could be in.

"I don't understand," Sugoroku sighed sadly. "It makes me wonder if he ran away."

"Don't say that!" Anzu replied quickly. "Yugi would never run away, not from you, not from us!"

"She's right," Honda agreed. "It's not Yugi's character to run away. Something had to have happened to him."

"Who or what are you suggesting?" Otogi asked. "Who here has a grudge against Yugi?"

"Maybe not against Yugi, but his other self," Jounouchi suggested.

The room fell silent, knowing that Jounouchi had a good point.

After about a half hour, Jounouchi had organized all the places Yugi is likely to run to, or perhaps had visited the night before. They would travel as singles, visiting and carefully examining each spot. Grandpa would stay at the shop just in case Yugi happened to return. Carrying large umbrellas, flashlights, and cell phones for communication, everyone went on the search for their fragile friend.


	5. Revival: Human God of the Dead

The lighting was able to make his figure clear, and it was obvious now who it was. He had only encountered him once, but the night was unforgettable, almost losing his other self to his foe. He looked up and growled in disgust, yet confused on how he was able to return. He thought he had killed him! He failed to succeed in his attempt to kill Yami Yugi the first time, but dare he try again, or was there something more?

"I would like to say hello once again, after a brief delay," the God-powered fiend, Anubis, greeted. "But do not assume it will be the same as our last uniting, for this time I shall complete my task."

Yugi just snorted.

"Your goal is simple, and it is to destroy the soul that lies within me," Yugi assumed. "How complicated to understand."

Anubis laughed almost greedily.

"You only think it is that simple, but tell me, if that were my only purpose, then why have I not killed you yet?" he asked him. "The one I desire is within you, but he is a mere spirit. By destroying the body he contains, he will live no longer. But you still live, so that cannot be my only wish."

"Then what do you want of me?" he asked viciously.

"Suffering," the muscular man said silently. "I want _you_ to suffer."

Yugi heard him well, but was not intimidated. He only gave a cold stare to his enemy, showing no fear and no weakness in his face.

"If you remember, you were the one that defeated me," he reminded him. "I must admit, you are stronger than you look or are given credited for. You are right, you are not precisely the soul I seek, but you are in my way from getting to him. You are a wall that stands in my way, so thus I must knock you down."

"A wall is not so easy to knock down," Yugi turned his head away, smirking. "You understand that I will never allow you to get Another I, as long as I stand, right?"

He laughed again, taking a step closer to Yugi.

"Another I is he?" he chuckled. "When I am done, you will not stand I was sure that you would stand before me, and I was hoping for just that. I shall break your spirit like a twig! Your weakness, your greatest flaw will be revealed! I am the God, and you are the prisoner in my world. There is no escape, and in the end, I will get what I want from you."

Yugi tried to kick at him, but missed miserably due to the length of his legs and the distance Anubis was from him. Anubis grinned at his sad attempt to do damage. He grabbed Yugi by the shirt and pulled him toward him as hard as he could. The chains around his wrists damaged his wrists, but not to the point which he could not bare the pain. Yugi tried to look away, though not in fear, but Anubis' angry, scarred face could not be ignored.

"I will tell you this: right now, you stand before the gates of Hell, and soon you will enter them and get a glimpse at its wrath. But after that preview, I am giving you an opportunity to escape from it. You decide where you want to be, but know that I can set you free," he explained to him. He delivered a hard punch to the ribs, then two to the stomach. Yugi gasped for air and silently cried in pain. "When the sun rises once more, the gates will open."

Being done with Yugi for the time being, he walked out of the room and shut the door. He returned to another room nearby, this one he called his chamber. He thought to himself as he sat alone.

_The young one, the light one, he is strong, but he will realize he cannot face the truth, especially at times such as these_, he thought. _I do hope the fight he gives is a good one, for the other pieces must come together here as well_.

Yugi still hung from the wall, his arms beginning to hurt from his weight pulling the rest of his body down. His entire body was hurting for that matter, but he had hurt worse before. A punch or two, like the ones he had taken a moment ago, he could take those. It was not as if he had not been punched before. Despite all this, Yami Yugi still worried for him.

"Don't come out," Yugi insisted. "I'm okay. I promise. If you show yourself, then he will just kill us, because he will think I have given in."

"I fear he has some terrorizing madness he is about to unleash upon you. And to attack us now…at this time, how can you hold out?" Yami Yugi pointed out.

Almost randomly, Yugi smiled and looked down to the ground.

"Do you doubt me, Other I? Fear that I won't survive?" he laughed.

"No, but…" he tried to talk.

"But nothing. Listen, he wants to kill you, and I can't let him do that. I can't give him what he wants, nor can I give him something I'm capable of defending and care about," he told him. "I'll be okay. I can take his games."

"I just can't stand to see you struggle. You've been through a lot, and enduring any more could be fatal," Yami Yugi said.

"I'm willing to take that risk. No matter what I do, whether it is allowing you to show yourself or enduring massive pain, it will be deadly. But if you go out, it is an automatic loss, and a show of cowardice. I'd rather go down defending rather than laying down for him. But most importantly, I can't lose you. I won't let him do it again," he explained.

Yami Yugi smiled at his friend, and he understood perfectly. He felt a rush of guilt for leaving his friend to suffer, but it was at his friend's recommendation, and he had a good reason for it.

"Alright, Aibou. I'll obey your request," he agreed.

"I want you to promise me," Yugi said, "that no matter what happens, no matter how ugly it may get, that you will not to come out at any cost. If at any time I beg you to come out, if I try to force you, I want you to resist. He cannot get to you, Other I."

Much to his distress, Yami Yugi promised his friend.

"I promise," he assured. "I am afraid of what is upcoming, but remember that I am here with you."

Yugi was happy Yami Yugi promised him, and though in pain, began to rest. The Gates of Hell would open soon.

* * *

Rain continued to pour as the gang walked in from their search. It was night, and their searches had come up empty. Yugi was nowhere to be seen, and there was not a single trace of his whereabouts. Frustrated and worried, they put their umbrellas away and rested as they continued of thinking of more searching ideas. Sugoroku had heard no word from Yugi, or anyone with any information about him. He decided to bring professionals into the search, and once the gang arrived back at the shop, he called the police.

"They'll be over here soon, for a description and the works," his Grandpa sighed. "Then they'll begin the searching process. I don't know if I can wait that long."

"We'll find him!" Honda tried to assure Sugoroku. "We're worried, too, but we gotta have faith that he'll turn up."

"Honda's right," Anzu agreed with him. "We have to keep searching! Tomorrow morning, first thing in the morning, we'll all meet here and organize more search ideas. I think that we need to rest for now. We'll let the police search in the night."

Sadly, everyone agreed. They said their good-byes and headed to their homes, but they could not stop worrying about Yugi, with the exception of Bakura, who's Yami could not stop thinking about the Ancient Items Yugi was supposed to possess. At home, it was nothing but tossing and turning all night, scared nearly to death on where Yugi was and what he could be possibly experiencing.


	6. Overcoming Pain: Torture Begins

Though in pain, Yugi continued to sleep, resting his body. It was morning, though Yugi did not know of that. He had been held captive for more than a day, and had somewhere lost track of time. He hung from the wall, but that did not stop him from sleeping. He still felt exhausted, and felt perhaps a bit of sleep might give him some of his strength back.

His rest would be cut shorter than he wanted it to be. Anubis would return to him, bringing along a few different weapons, their purposes soon to be known. He saw Yugi sleeping, and decided he would give him a rude awakening. He figured a punch to the groin would work well, in which it did. Yugi instantly awoke and could not breathe for the first few seconds of being awake. He looked up and saw his foe standing before him. He knew that the true test of his strength would begin now.

"The Gates have opened," Anubis informed. "Now there is only one escape route, and that is through me."

"I am no coward, and won't use the route you have given me," he snarled at him.

"The route is always open," he told him. "Besides, you have not yet experienced it yet. When you do, you will be begging the God to release you and you will be reasoning why you do not deserve your punishment."

"If it is Other I who you want, then why don't you just separate us?" he questioned. "Or are you afraid the worst could happen, just like last time?"

Anubis punched him above his right eye.

"That is too easy. It would be too simple and less enjoyable. I am no coward either, and taking that path would merely show weakness and fear, and I have neither," he said. "There is no flawless person, however. And when his flaws are discovered by anyone, they are used against him, and that brings him to his knees."

"That is true, but the will of him determines whether he stands or falls, even when his weaknesses are attacked," Yugi added.

"Can you justify your statement?" Anubis asked of him.

"Yes I can," he replied.

"No, can _you _be the example which justifies it?" he became a bit more specific.

"Am I supposed to be afraid now? Because I'm not," Yugi remarked.

Anubis realized that his intimidating remarks were not working. He was not trying to make him extremely frightened, but understanding of what was coming. Either Yugi knew what was ahead and was merely not afraid of it, or he did not know what was about to happen.

"I tell you because you will have to be the example that justifies your own statement, and if you should fail, shall you eat and choke on your words!" he yelled.

Randomly, he turned around and walked a little ways away. Yugi heard him pick something up, but could not see what it was, and with the little sound he heard, he could not make out what it was. It was then he looked down towards Anubis' feet and saw a few different items, most of them being weapons. A belt, small dagger, and whip were among them. He looked up to see what Anubis had just picked up was a kendo stick. There was only one explanation as of why he brought those with him.

Viciously, he drove the top end of the kendo stick into his gut, and then smacked the other end across his face. He couldn't even try to catch his breath again before he was struck across the chest with it. He was hit in the legs, then arms. He took several blows in different areas of his body, and each strike was consistently strong and painful.

And so the pain continued.

* * *

Jounouchi and the rest, Otogi, Honda, Anzu, and Bakura, had returned to the Game Shop to check in with Sugoroku. They had been on the search all morning, and continued to come up blank. The police had been searching as well, and they too, searching through the night and morning, had not discovered anything regarding Yugi. Sugoroku had made them lunch and served it, as they sat at the table trying to think of more ideas.

"I'm drawin' a blank," said Honda. "We've looked through almost the entire city and haven't found even a clue!"

"Damn," Jounouchi said. "I didn't think it'd be this hard."

"Well does anyone think he left the city?" Otogi threw out an outrageous suggestion.

"Why would he do that?" Anzu yelled at such a stupid remark. "He has no reason to go elsewhere! I refuse to believe he left Domino!"

"She's right," Jounouchi agreed. "I don't think he left the city. He has to be here somewhere; I just don't know where to look."

Bakura hid his face momentarily. He was sick of going around the city looking for the one he wished to get rid of. He wanted the Millennium items! And now they were in the very household which were supposed to have them, and he was just sitting there! He was so tempted to dash to Yugi's room, just take them, and leave, but he resisted. He needed to find a way to get into Yugi's room without making it look obvious he was after the items. Quickly, he came up with an idea.

"I have a suggestion," Bakura began. "Well this seems awkward and random, but what if we looked in Yugi's room for a lead? He could have left something there, like a note or something. It's crazy, but sometimes, the craziest things turn up in the oddest places, as I believe we all know."

They wore skeptical looks, but figured they had tried about everything else.

"It's a long shot, but it's worth a try. He brings up a good point," Anzu said.

"Alright then. Let's do it!" Honda led the way to Yugi's room.

Bakura could only grin evilly. He would rip the room apart if he needed to, as long as he left possessing the seven millennium items.

* * *

His body full of cuts and bruises, Yugi continued taking shot after shot, and still refused to submit. Blood ran down his face, as well as his chest where the dagger had cut through him a couple times. He could hardly breathe, and barely feel his arms and legs any more. Welts grew from the two whip and belt lashes, and all the while he hung from the very spot he had awoken to a little over a day ago. Even more remarkably, he only cried in pain, not in surrender.

"Who is here to help you now? You are alone! 'Other I' is doing nothing for you! And everyone else is Ra knows where! You suffer alone, and you rest in your own blood! How can you live with this?" Anubis cried to him as he delivered one final punch. He had beaten him heavily for quite a while, giving him short breaks to redeem himself as he taunted him, and wished not to kill him. His hands were soaked in the boy's blood from the punches. Breathing heavily, he stepped back.

"I…am not alone…" Yugi mumbled, barely able to see. The wall behind had splatters of blood on it as well. "They're…always…here…"

"If they were here, why have they not helped you? You never had anything, and you will continue to have nothing if you keep going the way you are!" he scowled.

"I have…something…but you cannot see it," Yugi said silently. "That which you cannot see is why I'm still here, and why I've not tapped out to you. If you believe my flaw is in my physical strength, then you are right. I am weak in that perspective, but it is my will that has me fighting through it, and here I stand still."

Angrily, Anubis elbowed him once more.

"You have more weaknesses than your physique, Yugi-chan," he growled. "This is merely the beginning. And when all is said and done, you will be broken."

He picked up the weapons he had brought and walked out of the room again, leaving Yugi alone once again. Yugi had made a statement to him which showed him that he would put up the type of fight he had hoped for. It was just all smiles for him as he returned to his chamber and wiped the blood off his hands.

_I shall slowly make it to the core, to the heart of my prey_, he thought to himself. _I will take him apart, piece by piece_.

Yugi's arms felt as if they were about to fall off. He wanted the chains on his wrists to just fall off and he'd fall so he could lay and rest, but he knew he could not do that. It hurt even to inhale and exhale, and his head hurt so bad he felt as if it could explode. He began trying to rest again, though soaked in blood.

"Aibou!" he heard Yami Yugi call to him within his mind. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he replied. "This pain is nothing."

"I hate this!" Yami Yugi cried for him. "I can't stand seeing you punished like this! This is worse than dying!"

"But you dying is worse for me than whatever he can throw at me," Yugi told him. "I will be fine, Other I. Please understand. I know that this is hard for you, but you too have to be strong and resist him. He is not only trying to get me to break, but he is also trying to bait you out, too, and if you give in, it's all over, and everything I'd done up until that point would have been for nothing."

Yami Yugi was silent.

"I'm willing to take pain if it meant protecting what's important, and I can take it," he continued. "Maybe he has more, and worse than this, but I am not going to fold. And I know you will do the same. It's not easy, it won't be pretty, but it's what you have to do."

"I understand, and I still worry," Yami Yugi said. "But you're right. We can't let him win."

"That's right," he said. "Let me rest now. A rescue will come…trust me."

Yugi left Yami Yugi in his mind. Yami Yugi couldn't help but have much concern for his friend, but he could not deny it: Yugi was doing the right thing.

_I trust you, Aibou.

* * *

_

It had been a little bit. Clothes were scattered about his floor, and Honda had accidentally knocked over the miniature trash can in his room. Yugi's room had become a wreck. Jounouchi, Honda, Anzu, Otogi, and Bakura had looked everywhere; the desk, the closet, underneath his bed, everywhere. They still found no hints.

Bakura became upset. The Millennium Items, where were they? Yugi had hid them, but Bakura was unaware of that, and now he was angered that they had not turned up in Yugi's room. Frustrated, Bakura ripped open one of the desk drawers, grabbed a handful of junk inside, and threw it. Of course, the rest of the group merely thought it was a sign of worrisome of Bakura for Yugi.

In the junk that he threw was a little, colorful packet. Jounouchi picked it up, and recognized it as a Duel Monsters Rule Book, which Yugi and he had received when the Battle City tournament began. This sparked an idea in Jounouchi's mind, and he looked around Yugi's room to find that his deck and Duel Disk was gone. As he usually did, Yugi had taken it with him.

"Jounouchi," Anzu saw Jounouchi kind of staring off. "What is it? Why are you holding the Rule Book?"

Jounouchi turned to her and grinned.

"I may not have gotten a lead on where he is, but I've got a hunch on how we could find him," he said. He held up the Rule Book and the rest stared blankly at it.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Otogi asked him.

"That's the book for the Battle City tournament," Honda began to think, "which had new rules for the game…and a new invention, which was a portable device which is used to duel."

"Yugi's duel disk!" Anzu exclaimed. "It can be located from anywhere by the simulator at Kaiba Corporation!"

"Bingo," Jounouchi showed her she was correct.

"Totally knew that," Otogi tried to claim, but of course was not believed.

With a way to locate their friend, they, even a sickened Bakura, ran to the main building of Kaiba Corp. in hopes of finding their friend.


	7. Attack the Weakness! Human Flaw

**_Author's note: Hey! I never get a chance to do this, so I just wanted to thank any of you who have read and reviewed either of my stories! Flame or support, I really appreciate it and it helps. Anyway, this is where it starts getting darker, so if you don't like this kind of thing, sorry guys! Please keep in mind that I have not seen the Japanese version of the U.S.A movie made last year, nor have I read the Japanese novel that was released for it, thus I have no idea how they tied the movie in with the storyline. So I am going off of what my original ideas were (please see other story, In the Shadows, to understand). Just making sure you all knew! Enjoy!_**

Again, he had been sleeping peacefully, trying to regain some strength. Much of the day had passed, and he still hung where he had been for the past few days. The blood had begun to dry, but still dripped slightly. The pain was nearly unbearable, yet Yugi acted as if it were not there. He was confident he would not give into Anubis' dark temptations.

Anubis returned to the room where Yugi was held captured. Instead of having to wake him up this time, Yugi awakened on his own. A bit disappointed, he approached Yugi, but he only hatefully glared at him.

"Why are you so hateful to me?" he asked him. "You know that I and you are not as different as you suspect."

"We are plenty different," Yugi argued. "You are consumed by the darkness in you, which makes us almost opposite."

Anubis laughed.

"Is that so?" he began. "To say there is no darkness in anyone's heart is a lie, as it is to say that there is not light in someone's heart. Darkness is not only evil, but it is also whatever may cover one from the light. Depression, heavy sadness, anger, hate, discrimination, that is all part of it. There is not a person who does not have at least one of those aspects."

Yugi sighed in frustration.

"You tell me what I already know," he said. "Why waste your time telling me this?"

"You do not understand it is why. Even within you, there is darkness. Within everyone, within life, there is darkness. And in this world, there is no escape from it. You are doomed to come face to face with it, sometimes without even knowing it, but be unaware of it, and you are fated to be consumed by it."

Yugi had no time to reply. Anubis' pearl in his crystal pyramid had started glowing, and Yugi waited to see what was in store. A flash shined in his eyes, temporarily blinding him. When his eyes opened, the room was black, and Anubis was not in sight. Yugi still hung from the wall, but it was as if he were hanging in mid air, because everything that had been visible in the room was gone.

The room began to light up again. It was as if he were staring at a giant movie screen. What he saw was a familiar place. Domino City! It was at the park at the center of the city. He saw a familiar child then walk into the sandbox, which was the main setting of the scene. The child, with spiky hair and large cordial eyes, sat in the sandbox alone, watching the other children happily run around and play. Unsure of what to do, the lonely child walked away elsewhere, hoping to escape the sights of fun which he could not experience himself. Unfortunately, he didn't, and his feelings of exclusion worsened. Yugi knew this. He realized he was watching himself. This was a piece of his memory; a flashback. Yugi remembered that event, as he continued watching the short flashback, and how horrible he had felt. The view of the memory brought back the emotion, the feeling, the pain he had felt at that time, which seemed to haunt him.

That would not be the only flashback. Yugi was forced to watch many more, each bringing back a haunting memory or a dreadful feeling which pounded on him emotionally. Bullies beating on him, including his present friends Jounouchi and Honda, his grandfather's soul being stolen away, his duel with Kaiba at Duelist Kingdom, his cruel duel with Jounouchi in Battle City, Mai being sent to Hell, Yami Yugi playing the Seal of Oreichalkos card, and many others were shown to him, and none were exactly among Yugi's most pleasant memories. In fact, they were among his least favorable, for obvious reasons, and seeing them from the outside made him remember only the worst of it all. What hurt him most was the flashback of the departure of his mother. Being the most recent, and the one that bothered him at the time, Yugi had hoped it would not be shown to him. It was when watching this memory, he began to cry. He refused to look away, wanting to show his foe he could survive through everything shown to him, but his heart had been struck hard after this one, and could hide his emotions no longer.

It was the last of the flashbacks, but then he was shown one other thing. It was another clip, but not of the past or present. It was in a hospital, and nurses and doctors surrounded a patient who seemed to be having a heart attack or seizure. The doctors scurried around, trying to save him, but they had been too late. The line had gone straight, and the patient had no pulse. Yugi could not see the patient, but the doctors then moved, allowing him to see who was on the bed. The man's face was not recognizable at first, but looking closely he saw it was an elderly form of Jounouchi. Yugi stared in shock as the scene of the hospital transferred to a graveyard. In that graveyard, it was raining as another elder stood before Jounouchi's grave stone. This old man, Yugi saw, was again himself, standing by his friend's grave. Scarily, the gravestones next to Jounouchi's were of his other friends: Anzu, Honda, Otogi, and even Mai and Seto Kaiba. Yugi could not believe what he was seeing. His friends were all dead, and he watched the older version of himself walk away without a look of concern or grief, leaving not even a flower.

All of a sudden, the room returned to its normal state, Anubis standing next to him. Yugi breathed heavily, a bit shaken up from what he had just seen.

"The past is haunting; the present is hard; the future is doom. All three spark fear and darkness in the minds of many," Anubis explained to him. "Can you not see it? You just reviewed everything from your past and your present, and saw what destiny has for you. This is all kept in your mind, in your heart, and continues to grow and overwhelm the goodness within you."

Yugi was silent for a moment.

"This was once I. I, too, let it grow and burn my tenderness to ashes, but I have found a way to revive it. Do you now understand how similar we are? Why I am hateful towards society?" he continued.

Yugi, still trying to recover, only nodded.

"How can you see the world as I, especially with your growing darkness? You live denying the world's truth, which is its black nature. Why is this so?" he asked of him.

"I don't see it like you do because though I do have darkness inside of me, like everyone else, I never let it overwhelm me," Yugi began. "You're right. A pure heart in the world does not exist, and the world does have an existing black nature that has been made obvious. But there is a better side to it, too, and that, I have found. Because of that light, I can't see the world negatively much, even in times of despair."

Anubis turned his back to him.

"Maybe you were not aware of this, but I have been watching you in preparation. I must admit, I am impressed by what you have overcome and survived. But on the path you are on, the path of suffering and constant hardships, you cannot last much longer. How long do you wish to continue to struggle? Can you make it down the entire road?"

"I didn't pick the path I'm on. It's what was destined for me to take. If this is the way I have to go, then I accept it. With my friends as my guiding light, I'll continue this road."

"Can you continue it alone?" he faced towards Yugi again. "You sound as if you rely on your wasted trust to get you through. You have faith in a light with many dark spots in it. Do you not see how much of yourself you waste on people? You are giving them your soul, and they slowly are taking it piece by piece."

Yugi denied his words.

"Do you not recall some of your flashbacks? When Jounouchi vowed to kill you for Malik?"

"He was brain washed and possessed. That was not Jounouchi talking and committing the acts, but Malik. And in the end, Jounouchi broke free of his control and saved me," Yugi argued.

"What about your other half playing the Seal of Oreichalkos?" he said.

"His intention was not to betray my trust, but to win. He knows better now."

"Maybe it was not intended to betray your trust, but he did. He disregarded it and played it anyway, all for the sake of winning. And then the worst happened, and Yugi, you were sacrificed."

Yugi was about to argue back, but was cut off again.

"And what about your mother? You had trust in her to be your guardian, your parent, your family, but she abandoned that trust and her responsibility!"

This was on topic Yugi could not argue against, because half of him agreed with his enemy. Starting to shake, Yugi remained quiet. He could not admit to him that had an edge.

"You abuse yourself and your trust by overusing it on the wrong people," he pointed out again. "There are three types of people: the carcasses, the scavengers, and the predators. The carcasses are peaceful and kind hearted, but are defenseless and weak. The predators are strong and attack at will, but are consumed by their own selfish desires. The scavengers, they are cowardice and have little pride, but are patient and strike when the time is right, and take whatever is left. No matter how bold or pathetic one may look, he is still of one type, and his characteristics of his type. Only one type however, can progress. Predators die because they have a civil war for power with one another, and thus self destruct. A carcass can never succeed anywhere because it is dead and has given himself up. He has no faith in his self, and allows others to easily take from him and step on him. What takes from the carcasses are the scavengers. The scavengers are the only ones that can continue on, for they wait for the predators to die out, and for the carcasses to appear. That is when they show themselves, and they time it to perfection as they take what they need. In this case, you are the carcass, they are the scavenger. You are the dead body, they are the vultures. You have shown them your dead body, now they will pick every last piece of flesh on your bones to help them continue on while you are left with nothing but death."

Yugi, despite understanding how this idea was created, didn't buy his theory. He continued to refuse to believe his friends were capable of betrayal.

"That is why the world is horrible," he continued. "You cannot rely on anyone but yourself. Cold hearts are overtaking the world, preventing true happiness from being fulfilled. What is worse is that it is all believed to be a step towards perfection, to a better life. The world does not understand that they are trying to create a paradise that cannot exist here."

Yugi had had enough of his negative rambling, even though he brought up points that had Yugi questioning some things.

"You only say these things because you haven't seen the brighter parts of life!" he scolded.

"You only resist me because you deny the truth, and that is your problem. You do not see that in this world, there is nothing worth living for, because everything is deceit. You are always alone, and if you cannot adapt to going about life on your own, you will not survive."

There was a moment of silence between the two, indicating to Anubis that Yugi had no reply to him. He walked away and out of the room, somehow knowing he had left Yugi with something to think about.

Yugi was relieved to see him gone. He did not know how much more of Anubis' explanations he could take. He could hear Yami Yugi calling to him from within the back of his mind.

"What kind of twisted mind does he have? Don't believe a word he says. You're right, Aibou. He is not," Yami Yugi told him.

"I cannot hate him for the way he is," Yugi admitted. "I understand the pain he has had before."

"That may be true, but I can't forgive him for trying to pull you into darkness," he said. "Are you okay, Aibou? Must have been a bit stressing, especially when he brought up, well you know."

Yugi sighed.

"I'm fine," he said. Yami Yugi was skeptical of his answer. "I am. He can tell me all this, but that doesn't mean I have to believe it."

Yami Yugi wished not to bother his partner any longer. He left Yugi alone to rest, hoping that help would come soon. It was hard to watch him try to fight a strong foe that really did speak some of the truth of the world.

Yugi knew that better than Yami Yugi did. Anubis had been right about many things, and now Yugi began finding himself in doubt and losing faith. He tried to rest, but questions and fear kept him awake.

* * *

The gang had finally arrived at the Kaiba Corporation main building. Luckily, they were able to catch Seto's younger brother, Mokuba, downstairs at the time. With his help, they were granted the wish of visiting Seto in his main office upstairs. They explained their problem and idea to Mokuba, who was a bit surprised by the entire thing. He agreed to do what he could to help them as they arrived at Seto's office.

Jounouchi not being among Seto's favorite people, Seto, when they all first entered the office, turned his spinning chair around, not wanting to face them.

"Perhaps you shouldn't be the one to talk to him," Otogi whispered to Jounouchi. Angrily, Jounouchi agreed.

"Seto," Anzu began, "we need a favor. Could you help us?"

"I'm busy," he sighed in frustration.

"Please, Kaiba?" Honda asked him politely. "You're the only person that can help us!"

"I don't have time for this nonsense!" he snarled. "Leave!"

"Kaiba we need you to pull through for us!" Otogi hollered at him.

"Come on, you idiot! Help us out here! Yugi needs help, and he's not going to get any without your help!" Jounouchi couldn't help but snap at Kaiba. Honda pounded his head.

"You're the idiot! We told you not to say anything! Now he's not gonna help us for sure!" Honda complained.

Kaiba actually paid attention to the part about Yugi, and disregarded the rest of Jounouchi's rude statement. Seto had remembered over hearing the many problems Yugi was having at the time, and almost pitied him for it. He knew what it was like to have family problems. Now that Yugi was missing, Seto actually began to fear Yugi might be at risk not with other people, but with himself.

"Brother," Mokuba pleaded, "both you and me know his pain. And we can't forgive ourselves if something were to happen to Yugi that we could have helped prevent. Seto, let's help them, for Yugi's sake."

Seto turned his chair around with a serious, yet annoyed look on his face. He was silent momentarily. He was about to do something he'd normally not do.

"What do you need?" he asked the group.

The gang sighed happily.

"Look, Yugi's missing, but he has his duel disk with him, and your computer has a program that detects the simulator on it that sends a signal to a surveillance system in it," Otogi told him. "Is there anyway you can use that and look up where he is?"

Kaiba held his head.

"That program has long since been moved to a different file, one of the many on our computer data at Kaiba Corp. Once Battle City ended, I didn't have much of a need for it, so I had it stored by one of my workers into a different file," he explained to them. "To make it worse, the worker that moved it was released. It could take me all night to find this program, but I suppose that, under these rare circumstances, I could find it for you and locate Yugi."

They all leaped into the air, Anzu attempting to leap in Honda's arms, but Honda did not catch her. Kaiba was doing them a huge favor for once, and soon they would be able to find Yugi and hopefully bring him home safely.

"Kaiba," Jounouchi said in a calm manner. "Thank you. We owe a lot for this."

"Come back tomorrow morning. I should have it by then," he snarled at him and sent them on their way.

Jounouchi and the gang left as Seto began searching the computer files for the program which would locate Yugi. He opened his desk drawer and pulled out a card he had not used or seen in a long time. He removed the glass case and took out the rare, powerful card that only suited his deck. Seto recalled its significance and placed it next to the computer, using it as a motivation to find the program. Mokuba then pulled up a chair next to him, wanting to help his brother find what he was searching for. He, too, knew the importance of that card to Seto, and knew that Seto, for among the first times, was not doing this for a future favor, but for a friend's safety.

_**Author's note: Sorry again, but please keep in mind that I am no computer whiz, so the entire thing about the duel disk simulator may be inaccurate. If anyone can help me out with that, please let me know and I'll fix it up somehow. Thanks again!**_


	8. Fallen to Black

It took him quite some time, but he was finally able to sleep. Of course, even sleep did not take Yugi's mind off of his previous discussion. He knew to some extent, what Anubis said was not false. He had never suspected that he would start to believe that his friends were, in truth, tearing him, as an individual, apart. What confused him most is why he had doubt. Why was he losing faith in his bond with his friends? Was it because of the occurrences of the present time, or because he was beginning to accept what was known as the truth? Yugi was no longer sure what he believed anymore.

Anubis returned earlier than he had the previous times before. It was later at night that same day. Things were moving along faster than he had suspected them to, so he needed to keep up with the pace. It mattered not to him, though, because it all seemed to be working as he had hoped. He walked in to find little Yugi asleep. Only a few hours had passed, but Yugi had found a way to put his self in a deep, yet terrible sleep. A bit upset, Anubis was not worried. A simple punch woke him.

"Hello there," Yugi was rudely awakened. "Did you sleep well?"

Yugi did not respond to him. Yami Yugi watched on.

"What is wrong? Do you still wish to contest me, or have you accepted everything for how it veraciously is?" he asked him.

Yugi continued to be silent. Anubis slapped him across the face with his monstrous hand to try to get him to talk.

"The route of escape is still open for you," he reminded him. "All you have to do is release your inner self and it will all be over."

"If it is him you want, it is him you won't get," Yugi snarled at him.

"Why do you still defend him? I see he has done well defending you. Look at you, Yugi. You look miserable."

"I look miserable at my own desire."

"It is not just your outer appearance that looks worn, but your inside. I see it in your eyes. Inside you are just as rugged as you are on the outside. And he has done nothing to prevent any of this. How can you still stand for him?"

"If I am so miserable, why do I still defy you?"

"I did not say that you were so horribly beaten so that you cannot function. I merely mentioned that that is how you seem to be."

Yugi just snorted at him and looked away.

"Of course, I will have to change that."

He continued looking away, trying to seem courageous and strong. Anubis did not fall for his act.

"Who is going to save you? Help has not come to you, and you continue to suffer. Where is your light now?"

"It's hardly been two days," he muttered, "and my location is hidden. It's not always easy to find a hidden or missing person. I'm sure they're searching."

"What if they are not?"

"They are-" he tried to talk.

"They have other things to do in their lives, too. Why must they use all that time searching for you when they have not a clue where you are?"

"They're better than that! They wouldn't abandon me, no matter how hopeless it looked! Why can't you just accept the fact that they are not the examples of darkness in the world?" he yelled at him. "If you've watched my journeys, then you've seen what we've done for one another, and what how we treat each other. Perhaps it's not darkness experience, but jealousy. Jealous that you unfortunately never had the life you'd wanted, one with better relationships with people!"

Anubis just laughed at the ridiculousness of his statement. Yugi was clearly looking for a desperate way to fight back.

"You are more judgmental than I expected you to be," he stopped his light laughter. "You know hardly anything of my true life, so how do you know that all relationships I had were bad? Do you not think I tried to create relationships with people, just like the normal human being? With the exception of my lower class ranking and my cursed name, I was the same as everyone else. It was the shallow minds of the people which caused them to refuse to create any kind of relationship with me. They saw me as a lower class worker with a name that could bring misfortunes and shame to them, not as the person I was, which is how it is supposed to be. Shallow human minds filled with pride and greed extends all the way back to even a time such as then, where survival itself was difficult to achieve. As time passed, and technology and goods evolved in both value and usefulness, the mind of the people became hungry for more of the better, and it continued to grow worse. The greed for the better is what kept people connected, because they realized that they strived for the same things. Today, even that connection is beginning to lose its grip, because the selfishness of people is shadowing it. Selfish purposes have set people against one another, because now people wish to take from each other in order to gain more. And they will do it at any cost: trickery and deceit, war, stealing, any possible method which takes from others. If people continue this road of boastfulness, which history has told us, then humans are only leading to their own self destruction, and perhaps taking this world with it, for they have taken so much of it."

Yugi remembered someone speaking of a similar idea. A quick flashback of Yugi's duel with Rafael reminded Yugi that Doma was saying something like he was. _Look around you,_ he remembered Rafael telling him, _Human beings, stained with selfish desire, are destroying the world._ Yugi wondered if Doma had any influence on what Anubis was talking about.

"The three types of people which humans have become, scavengers, carcasses, and predators, are all cursed with conceitedness, the only difference being how they seize what is they want. Predators use their power and strength. Carcasses die for it. Scavengers go after it when the time is right. All the actions of these three are all for their individual benefits.

"I have not been influenced by anything other than my own experiences," he said almost reading Yugi's mind. "Do not think I do not know about Doma, and how it too, had a similar feeling about humans' selfishness. When that man brought it up to you, I was thrilled to hear someone who saw people as I did, but you, as you have been doing this past day, have refused to believe it. If you claim the people in your life are what create your light, then this light of yours is not a guiding light, but a blinding one. It prevents you from seeing what is right in front of you, and you do not realize it."

Yugi was sick of arguing with him. He knew no matter what he said, he could not change his beliefs. Regardless of how much he told him how loyal his friends were to him, he would not be convinced. At that point, he was still confused from the previous discussion, and this was just adding more confusion to him. He did not know how to reply.

"I have to make you realize the truth," Anubis told him. "When you can understand it, you will be able to surrender."

"I won't surrender to an opinion," Yugi said. "The real truth is that everyone has a bit of avidity in them, but that doesn't mean it kills them. I've seen a lot of people, and I've even found some that I don't believe will be consumed by self-absorption."

"Those that you speak of are your so-called light, are they not? Scavengers such as them are among the most deceitful."

"If you tell me all this is fact, why don't you start justifying it? Thus far, I've given truth to my statement, because I'm still here! Now it's time for you to start proving yours! Don't just tell me the truth, show me it!"

It was what he had waited for him to say.

"With your greatest flaws, I shall…" he said.

His pearl began to glow again, and he put two fingers against Yugi's forehead. Yugi saw another blinding flash, but this time, he felt as if his body had been released from the shackles that held him, and he stood on his own again. His body was still in the beaten condition it was, but he was no longer hanging from the wall.

When Yugi opened his eyes, he stood alone in the beautiful city of Domino, standing on the sidewalks of the park. The climate was near perfect, the sky clear. All seemed so colorful and joyful. Yugi was unsure as to whether it was a vision, but it all seemed so real. He could come to no explanation to what it was.

Limping, Yugi walked down the sidewalk. He searched for somewhere to sit and rest his numbing body, but instead found all his friends, Jounouchi, Honda, Anzu, and even Yami Yugi, standing in a group together. Facing the opposite direction, they did not see him coming. Happily yet sluggishly, Yugi ran to them, having not seen them in what seemed like years.

"Hey!" he called to them.

They slowly turned around to see him. Yugi stopped right in his tracks when he saw the cold glares on their faces. They remained silent as Yugi looked back at them with a puzzled look. He did not understand the reason for their angry stares. Yugi looked away for a moment to see that his pockets were full of valuable items such as money and rare Duel Monsters cards. After observing this, he looked back to his friends, who were all but Yami Yugi, now holding something shining in their hands.

"What's going on…?" he said quietly.

He heard a clicking sound coming from Jounouchi's item. He looked closer at Jounouchi's item, and saw a sharp-ended blade at the end. What Jounouchi was holding was a pocket knife, as was everyone else as they opened theirs as well. Yugi didn't understand. _They're not planning, _he thought to himself. He took a step back to run into someone behind him. He turned around to see Yami Yugi. Once Yami Yugi knew Yugi had seen who it was, he grabbed him and put his head under his arm. His arm squeezed Yugi's head so he prevented it from movement, and his hands held the upper part of his weak arms from motion. Yugi was still baffled by what was happening. Hardly able to move because of Yami Yugi's grasp and fatigue, the only thing he could see was the sky turning dark as the sun disappeared behind grey clouds. He felt the air become cold and smell atrociously. He made a pathetic attempt to escape, but it was useless. He was too weak and his other half's hold too strong. Almost deaf to anything else because of the howling wind, he heard footsteps come towards him. With the little light remaining, Yugi saw three silhouettes of Jounouchi, Anzu, and Honda standing behind him, raising the blades in the air.

An explosion in the city was set off, shattering the buildings!

Yugi felt the sharp pain enter his back as the blade cut through him. The blood squirted out, covering the stabber with it. Viciously, the blade was removed as a different knife stabbed through him. This was repeated several times, each person taking many hacks at his back, soaking them in the red liquid. And all the while, Yugi could do nothing, as he endured stab after stab from the people he believed to be his friends. The pain was immense on his already damaged body, but emotional pain was also taken in account, weakening him further. Eventually, he lost his strength to stand, but his alter ego kept him up, at least for a few more times. Then he dropped his body into his own puddle of blood.

He lifted his head up for a moment. In the background, his blurry sight was able to see someone watching on. He squinted to make his sight clearer, and saw that it was no one other than his mother. Trying to crawl away, his weak voice quietly cried for help. Yami Yugi stepped on his hand so that he could no longer crawl. With this, Yugi made one final cry for her, this time it being surely loud enough for her to hear. She blinked at him before turning her back to him and walking away. She then disappearing in the dark, leaving Yugi surrounded by his traitors, lying and choking on blood.

Jounouchi, Honda, and Anzu bent down to him, laying their knives next to him. They reached into his pockets and took the valuables that were in them. They took everything and left him with nothing. After taking them, they let him be, and ran off. Yugi lied on the ground, motionless, still suffering from everything that had just happened. He tried desperately to breathe, but all he could inhale were little spurts of air, barely enough to keep him alive. Yami Yugi then flipped him onto his flaming back. He stood above him, holding onto his knees as he stared down at him. Yugi's eyes watered and signified he was hurt and betrayed. Dark Yugi apparently could not have cared less. Ferociously, he reached down, sending his hand right through his chest. He jerked out his hand after he had grabbed what he wanted: his heart. Having no true life of his own, Yami Yugi had taken the core of every life and made it his own, and he had obtained what he wanted.

Yugi no longer felt his soul in his own body, but it became part of Yami Yugi's. He saw not through his own eyes, but his other self's. Though he had no control over Yami Yugi's body, he could still see, hear, and think things as if he were in his own. His darker self's still hovering over his body, Yugi saw himself, dead and no longer in control.

Yami Yugi walked along and into the city, which was being destroyed by fighter planes flying above. The stench worsened, and everything became darker still. Buildings were collapsing as the Earth shook, and smoke was fogging the roads so hardly anything was visible. Having not a care in the world, Yami continued walking, watching the destruction of the city. He then walked by some tanks in the roads, as they like the planes were shooting down the city. On them, there was a label that read Kaiba Corp. Looking up, he saw the same label on a low flying fighter plane. Yugi, being forced into the back of Yami Yugi's mind, witnessed this as well, and could not believe what he was seeing. Kaiba Corporation, which was lead by Seto Kaiba himself, was attacking the city. Behind him stood the Kaiba Corp. Main Building damaged only by broken windows, indicating the idea of Kaiba Corp wanting to control Domino was likely to be true. Of course, Yugi could do nothing to prevent this, especially if he inhabited a body which he could not control.

He had walked to the end of the city, standing by the docks of the city. Yet again, he encountered Jounouchi, Anzu, and Honda, dirtied from the smoke yet still running with Yugi's valuables. They ran in separate directions, trying to flee the city. Looking up, more planes began flying in, dropping bombs as they flew by. The bombs exploded, and Jounouchi, Anzu, and Honda had all been caught in the blasts. This was all he saw, because he too began to run away from the incoming planes. It was no use; he could not outrun the bomb-dropping planes. The heat rushed upon him, and his body flew into the air. All the while, Yugi could only watch on…

Yugi gasped as he awoke back into the room he had been held captive. He was shackled the wall, just as he was before. The pain in his back and chest had disappeared; only the pain that had been there before remained. Everything had returned to the way it was. Sweat dropped down Yugi's face as he breathed heavily.

"It all seems like a mere illusion, but when you realize it is real, it hurts," Anubis told him. Yugi wasn't really listening to anything at that point. He was lost in the remembrance of what he had just been through. "I am going to leave you with that. I will let it rest with you. Remember, perhaps that is not how it will go, but it is how it will look, how it will be, and most importantly, how it will feel."

Yugi shook in shock.

"Tomorrow," was the last word he said before leaving once again.

_He is gone,_ Anubis thought as he walked back to his chamber. _He is broken._

Yami Yugi, who had seen the entire thing, came to Yugi. Even though he was not the one experiencing it, just watching it made him feel horrible enough.

"Aibou…" he tried talking to him. "That wasn't real. It isn't really like that. Don't fall for his tricks."

Yugi had no response, his thoughts holding on to the gruesome images of his experience. It was all he saw and concentrated on.

"It's not like-" Yami Yugi was about to say how life could never be like that, but he knew he'd be telling a lie. He couldn't think of what to say anymore. "Aibou, I'd never, they'd never…do anything like that. Don't you know that?"

Again, Yugi didn't talk to him. Yami Yugi knew that his friend's mind had drifted away. The Yugi he knew was gone, and he didn't know how to save him. Frustrated and upset, Yami Yugi growled at himself for not seeing this coming, and worst of all, doing nothing about it. His was losing his friend, and he had not an idea on how to bring him back.

_I don't have anything but suffering,_ he heard Yugi think to himself. _I can't continue this suffering. It hurts…so bad…_


	9. Only Cracked, Not Broken!

While the rain was clearing from the day before, the clouds remained, making the morning look grey. Regardless of the weather, the morning couldn't have come sooner for Jounouchi, Anzu, Otogi, and Honda. Bakura tagged along still in hopes of finding the Millennium Items. They all quickly made their way back to the Kaiba Corporation main building, obeying Kaiba's orders. Mokuba was already waiting for them and led them up to Seto's main office. Upon arriving, Seto was still on the computer. He looked up and stared at them angrily.

"So…" Anzu asked him.

Seto looked back at the computer.

"I was up all night looking for this, and I finally found it. Now it just has to upload," he finally told them. "It's almost done. Once it's uploaded, a map of the entire city will appear on the screen, and all the duel disks will be tracked by the satellite. Each duel disk is marked on the map as a red dot with a number it. We just need to find Yugi's number on the map and that's where he is."

"And if by any chance he's not in the city…" Otogi wondered.

"If he's not in the city, he won't appear on here," he replied.

The computer beeped. The upload was successful and the program was in use. Seto's eyes skimmed the screen, searching for Yugi's number. The gang joined him behind the desk until he gave a glare, signaling to them to get away. Without hesitation, they returned to where they had been standing before. Seto, along with Mokuba, continued looking on the screen.

"Got it!" Mokuba explained. "He's at the Dueling Dome at the northern edge of the city."

"You mean that place that got demolished by that one guy on steroids?" Honda asked him.

"Yep," Mokuba confirmed.

"Great!" Jounouchi said happily.

"Strange," Seto mumbled. "That place is currently under reconstruction. How could anyone even get near there? I've had it closed off."

"Worry about that later. Let's go get Yugi!" Jounouchi led them out the door.

Quickly, they all emerged out the door. Before leaving, Seto grabbed the card sitting next to his computer and added it to his deck in the card case on his belt. He grabbed his duel disk sitting on a chair in his office, put it on his wrist, and went to catch up with the others. He sensed something was not right and it may be required.

* * *

The time had come! Everything was coming into place. All that was needed now was the wrecked soul to release the strong one. Then all would be set. The second dimension could be opened anytime, but there was one thing he wanted to do before leaving.

Anubis returned to Yugi's prison. Yami Yugi, who had been trying to talk to him for several hours, froze. He hadn't talked any sense into Yugi, so now was not a good time for Anubis to approach him. Somehow, he knew what was coming. He knew that the damage had been done, and now he was attempting to force him to self destruct and collapse on his own. There was nothing that would bring him more satisfactory, because it would not be one kill, but two. As Anubis stood before him, Yami Yugi prayed that there was something left of Yugi, something that could stand against Anubis' hypnotic and truthful game of words.

"I see it in you," he told Yugi, who was avoiding eye-contact. "I see it in your eyes of blood-shot. They have been stained with the blood of the truth. And with that blood, they contain sadness, sorrow, and pain. You do not want this anymore. You want it to end."

Yugi remained silent, but Anubis had read his eyes correctly. He had never felt so empty, so hurt, so hopeless before. He felt as if everything was crashing down on him, and nothing was going to stop it from crushing him. Nobody would save him. And yet somehow, he was still holding on, holding onto the thread of an impossible hope that was on the verge of breaking.

"You know your way out," he reminded him yet again. "Give me him, and all is gone. You have nothing, but you can destroy one of the catalysts of your downfall, and leave with some pride on your shoulders. The pride of having the guts to face some of the darkness and destroy it will be with you."

He knew he was referring to his alter ego. By releasing his other half, he knew he would be asking for death for both parts of himself. By forcing him out, he would be submitting, giving up on everything. At the same time, he would escape from all he hated, which at the time was everything. Yami Yugi was sensing Yugi's thoughts of opting out.

Anubis again was using his pearl. There was a glow. Then it was as if Yugi went unconscious momentarily. What he saw within his mind was an extremely fast replay of everything that had been shown and hurt him. In an instant, the image was gone, but Yugi had seen and understood enough of it to become enraged with sadness. When the replay disappeared, Yugi screamed, unable to control himself any longer. He had been thrown into the deep end of depression, and was beginning to drown.

"You have nothing here! No respect, dignity, glory, love, anything you thought you had you lack! Anyone who you thought would rescue you is not coming, and they will leave you here to die! Anything you thought could use to fight the darkness is useless! Resistance will get you nowhere! If you want to be free from the pain, if you want to be rid of the suffering, you have to believe!" he yelled at him as Yugi continued to scream at himself. "Yugi, I am the God that will free you from Hell! Accept the truth, and then it will be over!"

The thread he held onto, it did not break. He had let it go.

Shutting his eyes tightly, Yugi activated the puzzle. With its power and his own, he began trying to force Yami Yugi out of him. Yami Yugi felt his soul being taken, just as if he were going to take over Yugi's body, only this time with much more force. He was about to let Yugi send him out when he remembered what he had told him, and with his remembrance of it, he began to resist him. He began trying to hold himself in, as much as he didn't want to.

"Come out!" Yugi called to him. "Let me end it all! It's for the better!"

"No, it's not," Yami Yugi responded, trying to push Yugi's force back. The force was much more powerful than he had anticipated. "What I am doing is for the better, much to my own regrets."

"You resist because you're just like every selfish bastard in the world. You know without me you'd cease to exist! Well I'm not going to be your shield anymore! Go take up someone else's life!"

"Aibou, I never saw you as a body I could merely use to relive!" he yelled, still holding back. Yugi's force continued to grow. "I wanted someone to share a life with! Someone who could help me find myself and teach me things I never knew. Someone I could go through Hell with, and be happy with until my time expires. I found that in you! I love the way you've shared your life with me! I loved things for the way they were!"

Yami Yugi's soul was near the point of being cast out of the puzzle and controlling Yugi's body. He didn't know how much longer he wanted to resist him.

"If I didn't have to 'share' my life with you, I wouldn't have gone through half the things I did! I suffered for you, and you let me! You don't understand the pain I've gone through! Maybe you should for once!"

He was beginning to cry. He knew that Yugi was trying to do what Anubis had done to him: make him submit. Yami Yugi could not do that! He couldn't throw away the fight. There was still hope that Yugi no longer saw. Jounouchi, Honda, Anzu, they would all be here soon! They had to be coming to find them! Yami Yugi just knew it, but he did not know if Yugi would wait that long.

"I'm sorry for any pain I might have put you through!" he hollered. "Why have you turned to this? It's not like you! No matter how bad things ever got, you always had hope and trust in yourself and others that it would turn out okay! Aibou, I know it all seems helpless right now, but I know that help is coming to you! Just wait-"

He almost had Yami Yugi all the way out. The puzzle was shining brighter as he came closer to releasing him. Yami Yugi was doing all he could to stop it, but he was losing his fight with Yugi.

"I'm sick of waiting!" Yugi had completely lost it. "I'm sick of the world, life, the people, the pain, but most of all, the broken promises!"

Yami Yugi had just found an escape.

"What about my promise to you?" he reminded him as his soul and Yugi's were beginning to exchange. "You made me promise no matter what he or you did to try to let me out, I wouldn't do it! Even now, as I resist you from pulling my soul out, I am being true to my promise, am I not? I want to break this promise to you, Aibou! I don't want to see you suffer, but I made a promise to you that I wouldn't come out, and I intend to stand by it, no matter what it takes!"

Yugi opened his eyes as Yami Yugi and he were switching spots. There was something inside of him that had not been broken yet…

The puzzle shined brightly. Patiently, Anubis waited for the glow to die and see Yami Yugi now in the shackles instead of Yugi. When the light faded, he nearly went blind from shock. Still hanging on the wall, as it had been before, was Yugi. After everything, even with a shattered spirit, Yugi remained. Anubis was furious! He could not believe that his efforts had failed! He had done cruel punishment and showed him the horrible truth, and yet Yugi still defied him.

"You are a despicable piece of filth! You would rather remain in Hell? Then Hell is where you will live until you are put out of your misery! May Ra have no pity for you!" he screamed.

Enraged, he assaulted Yugi with more punches and kicks, reopening some of his wounds and creating new ones. He went on only for a minute, but it was a minute like no other. His already numb body's condition had just worsened more. Covered in blood, Anubis walked out of the room, leaving a broken Yugi alone.

In his chamber, he wiped the blood off him. He knew one way or another, he would get what he wanted. He had the power to make it happen. However, that was not the way he wanted to do it! After cleaning himself off, he leaned against the wall and sat for a moment to think, knowing soon he would have to prepare everything else. _How?__How is this? How is he still here? He should have been gone. He should have been dead, _he thought to himself. He reached to the left of him where a dagger rested on the floor. He unsheathed it and looked into the blade. _I will cut your line then. Either way, your fate is the same! I have already decided your fate…down in Hell!_

A puddle of blood began forming under Yugi's feet. Yugi had said nothing after what had just occurred. He only stared blurrily at the ground, continuously contradicting his thoughts. He was ashamed of what he almost did, but he wanted to relieve himself of the pain and suffering. It was almost as if he did not understand why he didn't force Yami out. He was full of hate, fear, and despair. At the same time, there was love and courage. Where it came from he was not sure, but it was all that kept him there. He let a tear fall from his eye, confused as ever.

"I knew it," Yami began talking to him softly. "I knew you were too good for that. You're too strong to lose Anubis' mind games."

He was aware of the fact that his friend was still lost in the dark, but he wasn't gone. Yami was more determined than ever to find him.

"You remembered, didn't you, Aibou? You remembered the light within you," he began. "Maybe that God-posing ass spoke the truth of the horrible, but he left out a large piece of it. There is so much more than that, and it's all in getting through the darkness and into the light. You've soaked the rays of the sunlight before. Don't you remember how good that felt? How it warmed your body and made you feel good? Jounouchi, Anzu, Honda, all of them. They were there with you so you'd not be alone and you'd someone to share it with. They did that and more for you, just as you've done things for them. Friends always influence one another, and in the end it is always for the good. You've had so much impact on them, and you've helped them discover the strength within themselves. Aibou, you give them strength!"

Yami was beginning to sense doubt in him.

"You give me strength," he confessed as he began to cry again. "I wish not to walk in the light with anyone else. Who knows if I would even be walking in the light if it weren't for you? You're the reason I have a life and a motivation. Without you, my heart may almost be empty and discontinue because of a lack of strength. Aibou, you are my light. Without you, I am nothing. I hate to sit back here and watch you fight alone, but it's at your own will that I do. And Aibou, I trust your choice."

He had done all he could. Yami Yugi could do nothing but sob in the back of Yugi's mind for his struggling friend. He was so wrapped up in his sadness and frustration that he did not notice an unresponsive Yugi crying with him, crying tears of despair, pain, and anger, but also of happiness; of fight; of hope.


	10. One Life, One Chance

Taking Kaiba's limo, they arrived at the half assembled Dueling Dome. Construction had been delayed for a long time, leaving the dome unoccupied. The ceiling was almost complete, but the inside was still a wreck and in definite need of work. Walking in, the floor was dirty and some walls had been taken down. Without lighting, it was dark and hard to see. Nonetheless, they entered the half built building, assuming the tracking system was correct and Yugi was there.

Staying as a group, they all searched in the arena, finding nothing. In fact, they found nothing except dirt, pieces of the building, and abandoned tools by workers anywhere they searched. Yugi or his dueling disk had not been found. Even searching outside of the building, he seemed not to be anywhere near there.

"Damn it!" Jounouchi punched the wall after returning inside. "Is your program messed up or something, Kaiba?"

"It's an accurate, very expensive system so you know! It can't be wrong!" Seto told him.

"Then where's Yugi?" Jounouchi muttered in frustration.

"Calm down, Jounouchi," Anzu told him. "Kaiba, isn't there some place in the building we haven't checked yet?"

"I was about to get to that when that _make inu_ over there interrupted me," he said. "There is a basement in this building, but only two ways to get into it."

"Why the hell would you need a basement in this place?" Honda asked him sarcastically. Seto glared at him, shutting him up instantly.

Annoyed, Seto led them to the nearest entrance to the basement. Trying to open metal door, Seto found that it was locked and bolted shut. He tried kicking the door open only to no avail. Knowing they were anxious to see Yugi, he continued trying to kick and flail his body at the door. It still wouldn't budge.

"Let's try the other door," Otogi suggested, already making his way aimlessly to the next door.

Seto walked ahead of him and took them to the second door. Like the one before it, this door was also locked and bolted shut. Again, he tried kicking it open and flailing his body at it, but it too would not open. Eventually, everyone began trying to knock it open, only to fail just as Seto did. Even hitting it together would not knock it open.

"They weren't locked like this the last time, and after what had happened here, they'd be knocked down," Seto told them.

"Then I think it's safe to assume somebody's in there," Bakura, who had been silent practically the whole time, said. "We have to break it down."

"Yeah, but how?" Otogi asked.

Looking around, Honda spotted a sledgehammer that had been left behind by one of the construction workers. It was just the thing they needed at the time. Wielding the hammer with both hands, he pulled his arms back and slammed it against the door with all his might with it. It dented the door, but not yet knocking it down. He took a few more hard swings at it, and eventually, the door gave way. The broken down door fell down the narrow stairway as everyone began to follow it.

Mokuba trotted along with them.

"Mokuba, stay upstairs," Seto demanded. "I don't feel right about this, and I'd feel better if you stayed here."

Unsure of what Seto meant, Mokuba obeyed his older brother's orders and followed them not down to the dark basement.

* * *

He heard a bang! He had no time left. It was time to prepare the entrance to everything. It disappointed him that it was not done the way he had hoped, but he was left with no choice. Grabbing some rope, a key, and his dagger, he left his chamber for the final time and returned to Yugi's room.

Yugi looked exactly how he had left him: beaten, tired, depressed. Anubis took the key and unlocked his shackles. Thoughtless, Yugi fell to the ground, having no feeling in his arms.

"I have the power to get what I want, and you cannot stop me," Anubis told Yugi, who didn't seem to be listening.

He began using his God pearl again. It glowed white and black, alternating colors every second. Yugi could feel something coming out of him, like a whole different person. Showing no emotion or struggle, Yugi felt Yami Yugi slipping away from him. His presence was no longer sensible. He saw a large yellow light fly from his body and towards a different side of the room. At that point, he seemed not to care about much of anything anymore.

The glow disappeared, and Yami Yugi, in a separate body, sat on the ground. Just like what had happened before, Yami Yugi and Yugi were separated into two different bodies. Yugi laid down in exhaustion while Yami Yugi nearby was beginning to realize he was no longer in Yugi's body. Before Yami Yugi had time to react to what had happened, Anubis took the rope he had taken and tightly tied his feet together and his arms behind his back. Immobile, Yami Yugi could only snarl at his enemy.

"Escaping my grasp now is impossible. I have won," he stood above a helpless Yami. He took the dagger from his boot and unsheathed it once again, mocking him with the blade. Yami Yugi tried to kick him with his feet tied together, but missed miserably, and received a kick in the gut for his attempt. "I count down the time until I kill you. That will conclude my victory!"

"You," Yami Yugi began, trying to catch his breath, "have won nothing! You were forced to separate us because you failed in your attempt to make Yugi submit to the darkness! He withstood anything you threw at him! You couldn't put out the light within him, and thus he broke through everything! Anubis, you can kill me, but you haven't proved your might! You're a coward that contains yet severely lacks a God's ability!"

Anubis became infuriated, already sitting on a short fuse. He grabbed him by the shirt and lifted the dagger above his head, his intention looking to kill him then and there. He was breathing down his neck, but Yami Yugi was not afraid.

"I ought to finish you off here!" he threatened him.

His arm began to fall toward him when out of nowhere, someone grabbed it arm, stopping the fall. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Honda, using both of his arms, holding back his stabbing motion. Jounouchi flew in as well, kicking his hand and knocking the dagger out of his hand. Anubis threw Honda off his arm and released his hold on Yami Yugi to concentrate his attack on Jounouchi and Honda. Otogi jumped on his back, trying to choke him. Jounouchi and Honda attempted to tackle him and pin him down, dealing him a few punches and kicks.

Meanwhile, Bakura had stepped in and untied Yami Yugi's arms and legs while Anzu went to help Yugi. Both had noticed that they once again had been separated, but bothered not to ask about it. Bakura helped Yami Yugi up, who was prepared to join Honda's, Otogi's, and Jounouchi's fight, but he had been too late. Anubis tossed Jounouchi and Honda off of him and over at Anzu, knocking her down. Yami Yugi, Kaiba, and Bakura pulled them out of harm's way as Anubis eventually pulled Otogi off his back and over to where the others were standing. Bakura fetched Yugi's bag sitting in the corner of the room, which he hoped contained the Millennium Items but only having his duel disk and deck, as the others regained themselves.

"Are you okay?" Anzu asked Yami Yugi. "We were so scared! What happened here?"

"I'm fine, but Aibou is hurt," he told them. "He suffered much…if not for him, we'd both be dead. I don't have time to explain all that's gone on, but Aibou needs help."

"Tell me one thing: how'd Hulk Hogan get back here? I thought he was dead," Honda asked almost randomly.

"He must have stolen souls to revive his body again," Yami Yugi concluded, remembering a news announcement about mysterious murders. "He can't go to Hell or heaven because he can't be reincarnated. So his soul wanders the Earth like a ghost, and somehow he must be able to take over other bodies in order to perform acts to revive his own."

All were in wonder and stopped to think for a moment. Their thoughts were quickly interrupted when they saw Yugi beginning to stand. His legs shaky, Yugi barely made it to his feet, using the wall as support. Happy to see him back on his feet, they all rushed to him. Yugi slowly turned around, and his stare almost paralyzed his friends. On his face was the creepiest, most evil look they had ever seen. In his right hand was the dagger Jounouchi had kicked out of Anubis' hand.

"Yugi," Jounouchi said softly, being scared for the first time of someone half his height. "Are you okay?"

"A body with no spirit is so simple to control," Yugi said in a dark tone. He began to laugh crazily as his friends took a glance over at Anubis. They saw his eyes were dull and emotionless, looking as if he had no soul in his body. Turning back to Yugi, they realized that this was not Yugi. Somehow, Anubis' soul had transferred into his, and he now had control over Yugi's body, seeing how Yugi seemed to be in no condition to fight him back.

Instantly, Yugi made a dash towards Yami Yugi, who had already seen it coming. Yami side stepped the tackle and leaped against Yugi's back, knocking him down. The impact made him release the dagger once again, and Yami Yugi quickly grabbed it. He flipped Yugi onto his back and pinned him down. Angrily, put the dagger to his throat.

"Leave him now!" he demanded. "Let him go or I'll…"

"You will what? Kill me?" Yugi, or Anubis, laughed. He lifted his head up. "Go ahead. Kill me. I am right here."

Yami Yugi finally realized what he was doing. He understood now, that this is the situation Anubis wanted to put him in. Grasping the dagger tightly, Yami Yugi couldn't help but be tempted to slit his throat right there.

"Kill me!" Anubis shouted in Yugi's voice. "Kill me! Justify everything I have said! Show him the truth! Come now! Kill me! This may be your only chance!"

_I…I…Aibou,_ Yami Yugi thought to himself, his eyes filling with tears. _I can kill…I can't kill him. But…_

"Kill me, you fool! Kill me!" his encouraging taunt continued. Yami Yugi's grip on him tightened as he looked away from him. "He said it, too! You are nothing more than another selfish bastard in the world! You cannot prove him wrong now! You have no other choice but to kill me!"

He knew Anubis' curse wouldn't work if he killed him there. Since _he_ was the one that killed Yugi, he would not be healed or revived. He finally came to this thought, and his decision became inevitable. He simply couldn't kill his best friend. Yami Yugi lifted the dagger from his throat and dropped it next to him. He released his restraint on Yugi and walked away towards a corner of the room, where he collapsed in fear. Everyone ran over to him, trying to make him feel better.

"Yugi!" Jounouchi said.

"I…I almost killed him," his voice spoke shakily. Tears began falling unstoppably from his eyes. "I almost killed my friend! What have I done?" he looked at his hands. "He's right: I am only a justification of the world! I was willing to kill…for me! For my own selfish vengeance and anger! I almost couldn't control it! What am I!"

Anzu kneeled next to him.

"The thing is you didn't kill him," she explained. "You stopped your emotions and desires from taking over you. Yugi, you've done good! You haven't done anything wrong because you controlled yourself and didn't kill him, and we all know you wouldn't have. You wouldn't forget about Yugi like that."

The rest of them nodded in agreement. Yami Yugi wiped his tears away as the others went to the other side of the room to deal with Anubis' soulless body. Yami Yugi remained in the corner, still shocked over what he almost did.

A shadow covered him in the corner. Yugi had risen and taken the dagger again and now had Yami Yugi trapped in a corner. Yami Yugi had no will to fight him this time, fearing he might actually finish him off. He was willing to accept anything he might do to him if that be his will. Now it was Yugi that had grasped a hold of Yami Yugi, holding the dagger above his head. Anzu and everyone had turned around to see him trapped. They began to run to stop him, but Anubis in Yugi's body threatened them away.

"Take another step, and I kill him!" he told them. They stopped, unsure of what to do as he turned back to Yami Yugi.

While holding the dagger in the air, his arm began to shake, and sweat dropped from his face.

"I…have…you…now…" he stuttered. He seemed to be struggling with himself to deliver the blow. Looking in his eyes, Yami Yugi could somehow see Anubis fighting another being within his self. This other being was no one other than the real Yugi.

_I must! You must! We must! Kill him!_ Anubis argued with him in his head. He was able to gain enough control to thrust his arm downward.

_No,_ a voice replied back to him.

"No!" the voice repeated, only this time with the voice of his body.

Anubis had temporarily lost control.

Blood squirted as a gruesome stabbing sound was heard. The blade became stuck and drenched in the red liquid. Yami Yugi had become frozen in place. He had never felt so much pain, especially from only a sight.

Yugi moved his foot forward, holding around the area of his chest which he himself had stabbed with the dagger. His innocent eyes became those suffering of immense pain, as if he were about to die. He looked down at Yami Yugi, who continued to sit frozen in shock and sadness. He knew what he had done. Redirecting the attack, at the last instance, at himself, he hoped that now, for everyone's sake, they had a better chance of survival. Giving a slight smile at one of his closest friends, he fell and shut his eyes. When he hit the ground, Yami Yugi crawled over to him and put him in his arms. His body was motionless, and stained more blood on his shirt. Yami Yugi stared down at his lifeless looking friend, and hugged him close as he cried loudly. He screamed in pain, in anger, in grief, in sadness, as the tears rolled down his face. Jounouchi, Anzu, Otogi, Bakura, and Kaiba joined him soon after.

Having no use for the body anymore, Anubis' spirit left Yugi and returned to his own body. Everything had been set now. Back in his normal body, he began to activate some other power of his God pearl…

Looking around, everyone realized they were no longer in the small room they had been in a second ago. Now it seems they were in the middle of a desert, and a vicious sandstorm was brewing. Standing up, they all realized they held a weapon in hand. Looking across the desert, Anubis stood with a sword wielded in his right hand. Behind him were several different duel monsters, looking prepped for battle.

"War is among us!" Anubis called to them from across a sand hill. "You have with you your own weapons, and your duel monsters! It is my side versus yours!"

They looked behind them to see many different monsters of everyone's decks. This included the powerful Blue-Eyes, Red-Eyes, and Black Magician. Yami Yugi placed Yugi's body down on the soft sand and walked ahead drawing the sword he had somehow been given.

"Anubis," he yelled to him, "I swear to you that I'll have vengeance! You will be brought down with my hands, you hear me! By me!"

Anubis just snickered. Jounouchi, Otogi, Bakura, Anzu, and Honda joined Yugi up at the top of the hill, drawing their weapons as well. A battle like no other was about to begin.

"Let's be rid of him once and for all," Seto now joined him on top of the hill, staring seriously into the eyes of their enemies. Yami Yugi showed a smile, knowing that he and Kaiba could collaborate once more. "Anzu, you start some kind of defense around Yugi over there. We'll take care of the rest."

Anzu did as she was told, and returned to Yugi's body. The other six of them began readied themselves for what looked like war.

"So, let the game begin," Anubis whispered to his self.

He lifted his sword above his head. He pointed his sword forward, indicating to his monsters to charge and attack. All at once, the monsters behind him began to quickly move forward. Yugi did the same motion as his foe, and his monsters moved to attack as well. Yugi ran ahead, screaming at the top of his lungs, and lunged into battle, swinging his sword crazily. He would not let his partner down this time.


	11. The War Wages on Without Him

The sand kicked up in the wind, making even the sun nearly impossible to see. While it did make everyone's visibility poor, it did not harm the skin. It had to be the strangest sandstorm ever to be in, and though they did notice the oddness of the storm, they were too distracted with battle to care. No matter what kind of past he had, they could never forgive him for what happened to Yugi.

War was at hand. Duel monsters clashed, many already being destroyed. Fireballs, lightning strikes, magic, or other forms of monster attacks flew everywhere, making each step in the battle even more dangerous. The fight seemed to be even, each side taking its fair share of strong strikes and slaughtering. Those with weapons did as much as they could to contribute to the fight on their side as well, yet it was difficult to give much. They were mere humans after all, and a single blow from any monster in battle could instantly kill them. Knowing this, they were cautious.

Yami Yugi on the other hand, had his own plans. He had not a care about his own life. He went straight in the middle of the fight, being the strongest warrior of the humans. There must have never been a second, even when in flight on the back of Curse of Dragon, when he was not swinging his sword. With these swings of fury, he had struck down more monsters than anyone else. Not keeping track of how many had slain, he simply kept on fighting, ignoring his exhaustion. He would not be at rest until he had avenged for his partner.

The defense around Yugi was beginning to fall. Anzu had left long ago to help the others with their fights. Observing this from the sky, Yami Yugi ordered to land into the nearest open area. Quickly, his Curse of Dragon dove to the ground and let Yami Yugi off. He hopped off and Curse of Dragon returned to the battles in the sky. With many enemies in his path, he began to clear the way, no matter the strength of his enemy.

Nearby, his greatest enemy had awaited the landing of Yami Yugi. Standing with two of his monsters, Dark Assailant and Pharaoh's Servant, he stalked him for a bit, waiting until he had cleared most of the path. When the time arose, he used the dull part of his large sword to knock him hard in the back of the head. At the time, he had been prepared for a swing forward, but the hit in the back of the head caused the releasing of his weapon, sending it flying feet away. Once down, the two monsters with Anubis grabbed a hold of Yami Yugi's arms. They kept him on his knees, but restrained him from movement.

"You didn't kill me…" Yami Yugi said to him, fully aware that Anubis had the opportunity to kill him when he had his back turned to him.

"Need not to kill you yet. Not when you do not expect it. The exhilaration of killing you would be taken away then," he said.

He kneed him in the gut, causing him to lean over and look downward. The two weak monsters that held him grasped him tighter, trying to keep him straight.

"Now you know," Anubis told him. "Death to you now would be a beautiful thing."

Yami Yugi tried to stand, but Dark Assailant and Pharaoh's Servant kept him on his knees. He tried pulling and fighting out of the hold, but it was too tight, and he himself had worn himself out with his vicious battling. Instead, he was delivered another blow to the gut to help keep him down.

"Shit!" Honda screamed from several feet away. "Yugi's in trouble!"

The six others involved looked over to see Yami Yugi helplessly held as he was being beaten and possibly about to be killed. Far from him, they attempted to make their way to him to help, but it was no use. There were too many foes in their path to be able to get to him. With his monsters distracted by other fights, he could get help from nowhere else. Yami Yugi was doomed.

Slowly, Anubis raised the sword above his head with his two massive hands. His aim straight for the back of the neck, he swung down to behead his enemy.

Clink!

His swing was stopped. A sword had come across the path of the swing. At the sound of the swords colliding, he looked over to the wielder of it. Bloody and ragged, Yugi barely held the sword up with his two short arms and small hands. Everyone was shocked as blood spilled from the wound Yugi had caused from the wound. He had removed the dagger from him. The sword he held was the same that hand been knocked from Yami Yugi's hand. It had landed near him, and with it he would make one final stand.

"You," he glared and smiled at Yugi has he viciously lifted the sword upward, moving Anubis' sword away from Yami Yugi's head. Yugi pointed the tip of the blade at him, which was his way of showing he wished for battle. Anubis couldn't help but laugh at him. "If it is your death wish, then I shall grant it."

A weakened, physically disadvantaged Yugi and a God powered Anubis began to duel sword on sword. Yugi's friends continued to try to come aid him, but they were still stuck. Yami Yugi was still grasped by the two monsters, still unable to break free. Every time he tried to pull away, he was knocked back down. This time it was real: no one could help Yugi. Nobody could save him if he failed.

The two exchanged several swings at one another, each one getting blocked. Everyone, mostly Anubis, was surprised at the fighting spirit and strength of Yugi. Obviously, his physical ability was extremely limited, especially with an open stab wound. Despite that, he fought hard and courageously, but the outcome was inevitable. He stood no chance, especially in the condition he was in. He lasted longer than expectations, but eventually, he slashed a wild, hard swing that ended up not only missing miserably, but also making his body off balance, making it truly impossible for him to counter. Even with his blurry sight and light head, he saw the blow coming.

"Stop!" Yami Yugi called to him.

Yugi dropped the sword next to him, collapsing as blood hurled from his chest. Even deeper than the wound before, that had sapped the last bit of strength left in him. He lied in the sand, shaking from pain, spitting blood from his mouth. He turned to his Jounouchi and the rest, who had, despite the sandstorm and the monsters in their way, seen him fall. He then turned his head to Yami Yugi, still held by the enemies. There was nothing more he could do to help his other self anymore. This was the end.

Anubis put a foot on Yugi's chest, holding the sword straight above his throat with his hands tightly on the handle. A stab would finish him instantly, and for good.

Yami Yugi stopped his movement when looking into Yugi's dying eyes. He knew that despite he had not given into Anubis, his partner was about to die. As hard as he tried to get out of the hold, he could not breakaway. The rest of them were too far away to stop it. His fate was about to be sealed.

"Other I…" Yugi said silently and weakly. Yami Yugi listened closely. "I've suffered. I am about to lose, but you have to keep going. Against all the odds that might be ahead, rise against this darkness and shine the light through it. Trust in your friends…in your monsters…in our bond…in yourself. I'm always with you, and I…I trust you…my friend."

These were his last words before Anubis transfixed his throat. Yugi was gone. Anubis removed the sword and fled back to his side.

Witnessing the death of his closest friend, Yami Yugi became enraged. He pulled his arms in front of him, forcing the monsters that held him to collide and release their hold. He leaped over them and grabbed his sword. Having no emotion but hate, anger, and sadness, he destroyed both Pharaoh's Servant and Dark Assailant with a single swing. Immediately, he ran to his friend's lifeless body, holding him close, once again getting more blood on him.

"I will keep going!" he promised. "And I won't stop until I've won!"

He carried Yugi's body back to the top of the hill of sand on his side of the battle field. He called back all his monsters and Jounouchi, Kaiba, Bakura, Anzu, Honda, and Otogi. Unworried of his decision, they obeyed. All stood behind Yami Yugi, as he gave a stare of coldness to Anubis on the other side with his monsters behind him.

"Tell me not that you are surrendering!" Anubis yelled to him. "It is true my monsters will sweep the remainder your fighters, but to give up is cowardly!"

Anubis sent his monsters to attack him. In a large herd, his monsters charged ahead. Yugi's puzzle then began to glow as Anubis' monsters continued to come towards him. Lighting began to fill the sky as Yugi's puzzle grew brighter. As the monsters drew close, three lightning strikes of different colors, yellow, red and blue, flashed behind him and struck the ground. These bolts of lightning began to form the shape of three massive duel monsters. The lightning and storm faded, and what were left of the colorful lightning bolts were the legendary Egyptian God monsters: sky dragon Osiris, sun of God Ra, and God of Obelisk. Yugi's puzzle stopped glowing.

"I have called upon the most powerful monsters of my deck: the true Egyptian Gods!" he hollered.

He knew they would come now. The three monsters created from a similar pearl as his were before him, and his arm of duel monsters were nothing compared to them. Of course, he saw his monsters as nothing more but one big shield. While his monsters would be easily blown away by the three Gods, he would prepare his escape.

Each bursting a stream of intense, colorful energy, Obelisk, Ra, and Osiris swept the desert with their attacks. Any enemy coming in contact with these attacks were instantly destroyed. One by one, Anubis' monsters were quickly being destroyed. His monsters did not even bother attempting an attack on them, knowing that it would fail. Some helplessly tried to flee, but they too, were caught in the blast of the attacks. Finally, all that remained of his monsters was a large cloud of smoke, making their sight to the other side of the field even harder to see. Anubis himself was shadowed in their sight.

"You've nothing left on your side to protect you!" Seto shouted to him.

"Ha! Ha! You're screwed!" Jounouchi teased, thinking all would end sooner than he had figured.

"Consider the punishment of the Gods a punishment from me!" Yami Yugi told him. "Great saint dragon Osiris, God of Obelisk, winged dragon Ra, atta-"

He stopped his attack. The smoke had cleared. In his arm, despite being dead, was Yugi. His large arm was wrapped around Yugi's neck, and he held the smaller body in front of his, using it similarly to body armor. This would be his escape.

"You would not dare damage him even more, would you? He may be dead, but the damage you do cannot be fixed," he grinned.

Anubis had him where he wanted him. Attacking him would now result in attacking Yugi as well. Yami Yugi glanced at his friends, who were all in agreement. It was indubitable that he was right. They could not rescue Yugi now. He called off Osiris, Obelisk, and Ra, knowing they were rendered useless. Emotionally suffering at that time, Yami Yugi enviously fell to his knees, breathing heavily, hardly holding back the tears in his eyes.

"That is what I thought," he laughed. "Take a good look at him, because it is the last you will be seeing of him for some time. What a shame he can only look back at you with a dead stare."

Yami Yugi's hands became fists. He was about to run over to him and strangle him with his bare hands.

"Savor this victory while you can, for it is the only round that you will win. This is merely an opener," he briefly explained. "There is so much more for you. And it will slowly make you languish until death. We shall meet again."

His pearl glowing once more, he walked backwards, still holding Yugi, until the sandstorm made him invisible from them. After he disappeared, the sandstorm began to subside, and the sand beneath their feet was blowing away. Beautiful green grass lied underneath this sand, and the hills of sand blew away became a gorgeous, miniature fountain pouring down the most natural, clean water any could drink or see. At then end of the sandstorm, the sky was blue and clear, the sun shining brightly above them. The temperature was near perfection, and the wind had gone away. What had been a rough, dry desert had disintegrated into a land of life, purity and beauty.

The setting which it had become was just the opposite of their feelings. They had not noticed the change in scenery, because the dark emotion which they held shadowed everything else. They had not moved since Anubis had left, being much too shocked, too tormented, too sad to do so. They could only stare in the direction which he disappeared in. Yugi, among their greatest of friends, was gone. Not only taken by Anubis, but gone from the world. He was dead.

"I…I…I can't believe…he's…" Jounouchi said silently to everyone.

Even Seto and Bakura had remorse. They stood with them, though not as emotionally distraught as the rest.

"No…" Anzu cried for him, as did the rest of his friends.

"It can't end like this!" Yami Yugi cried to the sky, still on his knees. "He suffered too much; he fought too hard for it to end this way! He can't be dead!"

He pounded the ground, feeling minimum pain in his hand. The pain told him that this was real. It was no illusion, no dream. What was really happening was for real, and what had happened truly occurred. He found now that it was his hope that was shattered. What he considered his light, it was gone, and he felt as an empty shell without it.

"Aibou!" he cried to the sky, his tears flooding down his face.


	12. Stained With Blood

In the greenest of grass they sat for a long while. They were too hurt to move yet. With Yugi gone, it was as if a piece of each of them was cut off. No words needed be spoken. Everyone knew the emotions that ran through them all. The only thing they did was cry, cry in pain, in sorrow, in anger, in hate.

Kaiba, who had been exploring the area briefly, returned to see them still moping and mourning. He understood why, but it annoyed him to see them sit and feel sorry for him, knowing it would progress them nowhere. If they wanted to save him, they had to continue on, not cry on.

"Get up," he called to them. The group didn't even bother to turn their heads. "If we are to avenge him, then what good is sitting and moping going to do?"

"Where can we even go?" Otogi said. "This place seems so perfect, but we don't know where we are, or where he is or what we can do. Nothing."

"Shut up!" Seto snapped at him. "We know what we must do, and that's kill the bastard. We don't have to know where we are or where to go. We'll make our own path. Are you going to let him win, because right now you're definitely letting him!"

They finally turned to him, having never seen him more motivated to rescue someone other than Mokuba.

"What happened is over and done with. It's nothing but a memory now. We have to move on and look ahead, and what's up ahead is his defeat. We can never get there merely by sitting here and moping about the past," Seto told them.

Jounouchi stood up.

"He's right. We have to keep going. We're not going to achieve anything but just sitting here crying over what happened," he announced words no one thought they would ever hear. "I'm with Kaiba."

The rest but Yami Yugi stood up in agreement, realizing that they had to start from scratch and find and defeat Anubis. Yugi's mind, however, was still elsewhere. He was listening, but was more focused in his own dark thoughts. He continued resting his head on his knees.

"You," Seto pointed at Yami Yugi, "you're the worst of the damn bunch. Your mind always dwells in the past. If you care about your partner, if you really want to save him, you'll stop. You'll fight on for him, and for everyone else!"

He knew Kaiba was again correct. He was worrying too much about what had already happened, rather than growing from it. He didn't care! He continued to blame himself for the cause of everything up to this point. Wanting nothing to do with them, he got up and ran. He wanted to be nowhere near them, afraid he would only bring to them what he brought to Yugi: death. And darkness. And despair. No more suffering.

He ran on for a while until he arrived at a small waterfall. He jumped into the river, right under the crashing falls of water. Continuing to cry, he tried to clean himself up, rubbing his face with the water. He scrubbed the blood on his shirt in an attempt to wash it off. Strangely, it would not come off. No matter how much water put on it or how much it was scrubbed, the blood remained, as red as it had been the entire time. He noticed that not even a red color was flowing down the river. Confused and frustrated, Yugi splashed the water with his fist.

"The water…" a voice echoed to Yugi. It was Anubis. "So natural, so clear, so clean. Such great water should not be wasted like that."

"Come face me!" he yelled, unaware that Anubis was nowhere near him. "Coward, don't hide! Come and get me! Destroy me! It's what you want, isn't it? Well then put me out of my misery! Kill me!"

"Water gives the human life. It composes the body. Without it, the body fails. The more natural the water is, the cleaner it is, the more one benefits from it. Should the water be more contaminated, the more one who drinks it will become ill," he heard him say. "I will not let you make the innocent suffer by allowing you to spill the blood in it. This pure water will not wash away your sin. God will not forgive you for your acts. You must live with it until your doom, then to Hell with your soul."

Yugi understood now why the blood would not come off. Anubis was making him pay more than he himself was. But Anubis was no God. He carried the name of one, in his hand he had powers like one, but he was not a true God. It was not his decision to determine the fate of anyone. He knew the God Anubis referred to was himself, and Yugi would not tolerate him thinking that's what he was.

"You're right. My acts were wrong, but it's not you to determine fate!" he yelled, still unaware that Anubis was not really listening to him.

"Continue to defy it all, and you will suffer more. It matters not what you do now, because it is known what will become of you. You cannot undo what is already done," his voice faded away.

Yugi stormed out of the river, water dripping from his body. He ripped his shirt off, still full of blood, and threw it to the ground. Already being torn apart about all of his terrible acts, he did not need to be reminded of it by wearing it. Again, he began crying to the sky.

"Anubis," he screamed, "You'll not determine what will happen to me! I will accept any fate the true Gods have for me, but you will not be the one to decide that because you are not one of them! You're a mortal man and nothing more. Think you're anything close to the Gods and you'll consume yourself!"

He paused for a moment.

"And Aibou," he shouted, "I'm sorry for everything, but especially for what you have gotten and not deserved! Because of me, you're gone, and that's not fair. You should still be here. I swear to you, Aibou, that if my doom is here, I'll die committing an act of good, not of sin. I'll fight for your second chance. For you is all I will strive for! I promise!"

He walked away from the river, still soaking wet and shirtless. He had but one thought on his mind the entire way back to his friends.

_I promise, Aibou,_ he thought to himself. _I promise._

Yugi had caught his friends on his way back. They had been chasing after him.

"I'm sorry," he apologized for running off on them. "I didn't mean to abandon you. I just needed time to think and figure out what I want to do."

"That should have been inevitable," Honda said to him.

"It was. I just needed to realize it," he put his head down in shame.

Jounouchi stood beside him and smiled.

"We understand," he said. "Let's forget about it and concentrate on where we have to go."

Anzu walked next to him and showed him a note they had found when he was gone. It read, in some sort of unique hand writing:

**Rest to your needs, eat to relieve. Only in the battles of flaws shall death be there.**

"Does this mean we're safe for now?" Anzu asked them.

"I wouldn't count on it assuring our safety," Bakura said.

They walked around, exploring for hours before soon enough the sun began to set. Night had crept up on them. Turning their heads to the right, they saw a fire had been built, surrounded by blankets and pillows. Honda walked over to inspect the area, making sure it was safe. He had found nothing of harm, and signaled the rest of them to come.

"I'd say it'd be good to use the night for some rest," Seto suggested.

"But how do we know we're not going to be attacked during the night?" Otogi asked. "This could all be a trap. As utopian like as all seems, it could be nothing but trickery."

After arguing over what to do for several minutes, Yugi had a suggestion.

"I'll stay up and watch for him," he told them. "You all sleep, and if something happens, I'll wake you. If nothing happens during the night, we might be able to believe what the note tells us."

With no better ideas, the gang decided to give Yugi's idea a shot. He continuously reassured them that he would be fine staying up the night. Eventually, they had enough trust in him and began to sleep. Yugi did keep a look out and was well aware of his surroundings, but he spent much of the night, gazing up at the shining stars in the sky. He knew that even if he tried to sleep, he would not be able to. There was too much on his mind. At least now he could hold his tears back.

Morning came quickly. At the feeling of the sunlight, everyone woke up. Again, the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and the sky was clear. They agreed to get moving quickly and begin their journey. Walking away from the camp site, they ran into a road which had not been there the day before nor created during the night. It was a path of dirt, and right on this trail was a basket of food. Standing in front of it, they debated on whether to eat the food in it or not.

"The note said it was okay to eat it," Anzu stated.

"But can we trust it?" Honda questioned. "I'm not so sure."

During their debate, Jounouchi had already helped himself. His stomach had been growling, and when food was sitting right in front of him, he was going to quickly get some for himself.

"A starving dog will eat scraps off the floor," Kaiba sighed.

"Well if this food was poisonous or something, he would have been effected by it by now, right?" Bakura said happily, sitting down and pealing a banana.

Everyone sighed and decided to eat. There was plenty to go around, and it filled them up quickly. When reaching for the last bit of food in the basket, Jounouchi pulled out another note. About to wipe his face with it, assuming it was a napkin, he caught himself and opened it.

"Follow the familiar trail, and ready for battle," he read aloud.

At the bottom of the note, there were pictures drawn on it, representing seven people. These pictures were clearly, by the art work, hieroglyphics, and the people represented were them. The shortest of the people drawn had been crossed out by red. They began to understand that the battle they had fought yesterday was the start of it all. It was a game like structure, and Yugi was only the first competitor. Now there were only six others. No matter how Anubis wanted to fight, they would stand against him.

The gang stopped eating immediately after receiving this note. Leaving the food be, they continued down the road, knowing that if they stayed on this path, they would encounter their enemy. Yami Yugi walked ahead of them all, determined to keep his promise to his partner.


	13. Games For Two: Dungeon Maze

Walking down an endless trail, the group had seen just a small portion of the land's beauty. Filled with color and life, the air had never been so clean, the weather never so perfect, the atmosphere never so peaceful. Not a single cloud floated in the sky as the sun shone strongly onto the land. Flowers grew from the ground, and many fruits grew from the trees and bushes. As they continued on the trail, the grass faded away, and they approached a large, tan canyon. None of them had ever seen a canyon from this viewpoint before, and they dazed at its allurement. The cliffs were wonderfully figured and shaped, and the sunlight beaming down on them only added to the great sight. The trail led them down into the canyon, so carefully they climbed down into it.

For a while, it seemed the trail had only guided them to view the sights. After traveling for quite some time through the canyon, they had run into Anubis. Surprised at first, they all stepped forward in preparation of attack.

"All versus I? That is not fair," he laughed. Of course, he alone, with his God powers, could probably take them all on. "This will not be all on one, but one on one. It is not just a fight versus me, but versus you. Unable to defeat neither yourself nor I, and you will fall, one by one."

They stood up straight. They understood now that only one person at a time would be able to battle him, and each time the circumstances would be different. Though unsure of what he meant about fighting themselves, they felt ready and confident at beating him at his own games.

Disregarding his statement, Yugi let his anger overcome him and immediately went to attack. Seto and Honda held him back, not wanting him to die so quickly. Yugi calmed down and stopped.

"Who will it be? Who will accept the first challenge?" he stood patiently, blocking them from proceeding further down the trail.

Yugi moved his foot forward, but Otogi stepped in front of him. He would not let anyone else challenge him now, especially Yugi. He looked back, his eyes telling Yugi that he had this one.

"Don't be a fool. I'll defeat this jackass and save you the trouble," he told Yugi. He turned to Anubis. "I'll take you on."

Otogi walked away from the group and towards Anubis, keeping his distance. Anubis smiled as he showed a rocky staircase which led up to the center of the left cliff.

"Take the stairs up the cliff. I welcome you all to watch," he told them.

Consciously, the remainder of the group took the stairs up the cliff. With each step, they waited for something to happen. Nothing had occurred as they proceeded up the stairs, which was unexpected. After Jounouchi, the last person in line, had finished climbing them, the stoned stairs shattered to pieces. Now the only way back down was to jump or to climb, and being a bit high up, neither looked so delightful. Still under the belief Anubis would strike them all down at once, the group spread out from one another.

"Good luck, Otogi," Anzu mumbled to herself.

Anubis turned away from the group on the cliff and faced his opponent. Otogi had a fearless, angry look on his face, though some of it was merely a mirage.

"There will be no interferences," he reminded him.

"I don't need anyone else to defeat you," Otogi growled selfishly. "You're paying for what you did to Yugi."

"Will I? By your hands?" he snickered. "We will see. I only hope you do not get lost in the game, only to die alone."

"Let's start it already," he said.

"Very well."

The earth began to shake. Everyone but Anubis began to hold onto something to prevent them from falling. Behind Anubis, thick, elevated walls began coming out of the ground. These walls were so tall that there was no way to climb over them, so thick they could not be broken through. When the walls had finished growing, the earthquake stopped. From above, the group could see the formation of the wall. It was nothing more than a giant maze.

"Behind me," Anubis began to explain to Otogi, "is a dungeon maze. You are to pick three monsters to accompany you on your journey through this dungeon, and you are to lead them around the maze, they never to leave you. You must scurry around and assault the other player's monsters, destroying each of them. After destroying one of his monsters, you are to let them escape for one minute exactly before you begin once again your search and assault. When you have nothing left to defend yourself, you must lead yourself out of the maze the same way your opponent entered to safety. Fail to do so and the other player will slaughter you."

Otogi understood what was going to happen. He had gone through mazes before. His Dungeon Dice Monsters game had been designed about monsters making their way through a dungeon to the heart points of their opponents. But unlike his game, the stakes were much higher. It mattered not to him what was on the line! He would prove his value and defeat his opponent.

"Pick your three monsters," Anubis told him.

Otogi thought quickly yet carefully. He thought of his own deck, more so his Dungeon Dice Monsters deck. He figured the power indicated on the card would not precisely be the same as the real monster that would be with him, but he still tried to use the card information to think strategically. His most powerful monster would obviously be with him, but he also wanted some speed and defensive power with him. After much debate about his final two monsters, he finally came to a decision.

"Under my arm, I'll take God Orguss, Black Ninja, and Battle Ox," he said.

Behind him, hologram looking figures of the monsters he had picked stood behind him. A short fighter illusion, dressed in black, a tall armored knight, and an axe wielding ox on two legs stood behind him. After Otogi turned to them, they no longer became see through. They had been given life as Otogi watched in amazement.

"I will take Buster Blader, Rude Kaiser, and Sword Stalker," he called.

Just as what had happened for Otogi, Anubis' monsters appeared behind him, becoming real creatures.

"I will start at the maze's other end. Have no fear of them not understanding you or not listening to you. They are quite the obedient. Wait for the sound of the bell, for that is the sound of the beginning," he quickly explained. Using the unoccupied side of the canyon, Anubis retreated to the other end, the stone stairs again bursting after their use.

As the minutes before they would begin ticked away, Otogi tried thinking of some strategy he could use. He knew not the format of the maze, so he would have to go solely by instinct on which direction to take. Around every corner, he would have to move carefully, not to be caught off guard, or perhaps to find a way to sneakily attack his enemy. His back would also have to kept on watch, for when he would be stalked would be unknown. He thought he had picked his monsters perfectly, and they would not let him down. Finding nothing else to keep in mind for this challenge, he turned towards the entrance of the maze, waiting for the bell.

"I'm ready for you," he whispered words of encouragement to himself.

Ding!  
The bell had rung. Both Otogi and Anubis dashed into the maze, their monsters following close behind.

Otogi had taken several turns in the complex dungeon. Within a matter of minutes, he was lost. He had thought he had traveled in a large circle already, but he was not sure. Every now and then, he would have his monsters check the rear in case they might have been followed. As time wore on, he started carefully checking the corners, trying to be sly. The fight had gone on for ten minutes, and nothing had occurred yet.

From above, everyone could see both Otogi and Anubis moving through the maze at their own paces and with their own strategy. Anubis was not as cautious as Otogi, but he did not by all means move quickly. The maze's largeness was taking a toll on Otogi, as he became tired after running around it aimlessly for a little bit. Yugi watched them both closely, watching them run around, unaware of how much closer to one another they were becoming.

"Be careful, Otogi," he said aloud. "He's coming for you."

Unable to hear his friends, Otogi continued to move through the maze. He ran straight for a while until he was forced to turn right. There was not a sign of his opponent. He heard no foot steps, nor breathing of anyone else. He almost began to suspect that it was too quiet. Checking behind him once more, he continued ahead.

_This is too weird,_ he thought to himself_. Why have I not seen him yet? Why hasn't he attacked? He has to be near._

He turned the next left corner when he heard the unsheathing of a sword. Barely around the edge, Otogi looked ahead of him first, seeing if Anubis was in the path in front, but he knew he would not make such a foolish mistake as to make a noise. He turned around, his monsters still behind him, two of them not fully around the corner yet. He went back around the corner he had just turned, and saw Anubis behind him. Sword Stalker had equipped its sword, and sliced the monster leading the back, Otogi's Battle Ox, into two. Battle Ox disappeared after the attack, its large axe remaining. Otogi stood in shock. He was now one monster short, with only two left.

"One of your fighters has fallen. All that remains are two, then it is you," Anubis laughed as his Sword Stalker returned to him. "You have only a minute! Flee!"

Otogi remembered that he only had a minute to create some distance between him and Anubis. Delaying no longer, he ran the path he had planned to go before. After a bit, he thought he had lost him, and stopped for a breath.

_I let my guard down_, he thought. _Now I'm a monster short. I have to find a way to even the score._

After catching his breath, he began moving through the maze again, moving back on the same path he had just come from. He hoped to run into Anubis again if he moved backwards. Some time passed, and again they had not seen one another. Turning right, Otogi saw a shadow ahead of him turning left. It was Sword Stalker, one of Anubis' monsters. This was his chance! Carefully and quietly, he followed them for a little bit until he thought of a perfect execution of attack.

_Black Ninja is sly, small, and nimble. If I send him to attack on the next corner they turn, it could sneak attack Sword Stalker._

He figured it would work, and any way of attack would be good for him at that point, being down a monster. Anubis, now holding the axe of Battle Ox, took a left turn, and Otogi quietly signaled Black Ninja to attack. The ninja, hardly making a sound as it moved, ran in its toes as the distance between it and Sword Stalker lessened. Otogi cautiously followed his monster to make sure his plan did not end up backfiring. When Black Ninja turned the corner, Otogi and God Orguss stayed behind, but looked around that corner to watch the slaying. Black Ninja withdrew four long bladed, powerfully sharp throwing knives between its fingers in its right hand. It leaped into the air and viciously released all four knives from his hand. The blades dug themselves into the flesh of Sword Stalker's back, and Sword Stalker disappeared. Its weapon, like Battle Ox's, remained.

"What now, bitch?" he taunted his opponent as if he had just one a street fight. "I've defeated one of your own!"

The group on the cliff cheered as Anubis sighed and smirked. He ran off knowing he only had a minute to get away. He had no concerns about one of his monsters being destroyed. He knew he would avenge its fall.

Otogi waited for one minute to pass, and once it was up, he was quickly off again. His confidence had overgrown, and he felt nothing could go wrong now. He felt great enough to think that he could run anywhere and run into Anubis again, and take down another one of his monsters. With his head up in the clouds of glory, Otogi dashed through the maze insensately, having no clue where he was going or why.

All the while, Anubis followed. Patiently, he had hidden in a path near where Otogi had been waiting to go on the attack again. It was a path Otogi did not take, and as soon as he passed, Anubis stealthily trailed him. He knew Otogi would be in a state of euphoria, and be unaware of an immediate attack.

"Otogi," Anzu yelled from above, "Behind you! Watch your back!"

Her voice was hardly a silent sound of wind blowing. Otogi could not hear anything any of them said. He continued to fatuously wander around the maze, Anubis slowly closing the gap between them.

"Why isn't he listening? That idiot's going to get himself killed!" Honda complained.

"I don't know…" Yugi mumbled. "Can he not hear us?"

Otogi continued running straight, unaware of the fact he could have taken a shorter path on the trail before to reach the area path he was on. Anubis had take this path, and waited for Otogi to run by. He rested his back against the side of the wall which would hide him from Otogi. As he expected, Otogi ran right by him, and Anubis already had his Rude Kaiser ready to strike. The monster last in line, Black Ninja, followed him. The second Black Ninja was next to it, Rude Kaiser assaulted it. It jumped atop its foe, and using the axe blades attached to its arms, cut it to pieces. Black Ninja was gone. Hearing the cutting, Otogi spun around as his Black Ninja disappeared.

"What the-" he grumbled.

"One," was the only word Anubis said to him.

Deeply afraid, Otogi ran, his only monster trailing behind him. He was running like a chicken with its head chopped off. It was unbelievable! Another one of his monsters had been destroyed! If he lost his last monster, surely he would be killed. The dungeon maze was nearly impossible to figure out. He would not know the first route to escape. Otogi felt an urge of desperation. He was so afraid that he noticed not a minute had passed, and Anubis was after him again.

_I…I need to find a way…out…_was the only thought on his mind. He had already given up.

He had been so scared he noticed not that he was running in circles for a little bit. When he finally did, Anubis had already found him. With only one monster left, Anubis did not have to worry about anyone else attacking his monsters. As Otogi circled around again, he sent Rude Kaiser to distract his God Orguss. Otogi this time was more aware of the attack, and sent his God Orguss to defend him. His large arm shoved Rude Kaiser aside, but the force of his shove made his body turn away from the front, making way for Buster Blader's attack. With its masterful sword, Buster Blader stabbed straight through Orguss' armor. It ripped the sword out as God Orguss collapsed and disappeared. Otogi watched as his strongest beast was killed. All his monsters, gone. He nothing left to defend himself. All he could do is run in different directions in hopes that he would find the exit. Anubis was in no rush to go after him. He patiently stood as he waited for the one minute limit to be up.

"Otogi!" Honda screamed to him.

Upset, he ran to jump off the cliff and into the maze, but ended up running into something else, stopping him from doing so. He fell back as the others ran to see what it was he had run into. Carefully feeling, they felt another wall in front of them, only it was unseen. Its purpose was obviously to prevent Otogi from hearing them, and from them going into the dungeon maze themselves.

"Anubis, kisama…" Yami Yugi growled to himself as he sat in anger.

They all sat with him, angry at the fact Otogi was helplessly lost in a maze which he could not solve. There was nothing they could do but watch. They prayed that somehow, he would find a way out. Even hope would not help him. Otogi was still stuck in the center of the maze, and he was making no progress in getting towards the exit.

Out of breath, Otogi quickly took a right and ran straight only to find he had reached a dead end. There was nowhere else to go but back. He turned away to see his enemy slowly approaching him. He was trapped.

"Arrogance," Anubis spoke to him as he took slow steps. Otogi backed up against the wall. "Your own disgraceful arrogance has caused all with you to fall. It is only fitting for you to fall at your own arrogant hands. You will lead no one down any longer."

He was sweating immensely and shivered. Otogi rethought about this entire fight. He remembered how cocky he was after he had destroyed Anubis' Sword Stalker, and how that led to the destruction of his Black Ninja. He thought even harder back to when he had first met Yugi, and how much of a selfish scum he was to him then while playing against him in Dungeon Dice Monsters. As he thought harder about it, he realized that this was similar to that match…and now he was paying for forgetting.

"Otogi-" his friends called to him, but as usual he could hear nothing.

He looked up to them as Anubis' shadow covered him from the sun. Anubis lifted the axe above him. Otogi's eyes told them how sorry he was that he failed, and he was willing to pay the price of death to save them.

The axe swung horizontally, slicing deeply through Otogi's throat. Blood splattered on the wall nearby as the dead Otogi collapsed.

They could not stay any longer. Otogi was gone, and they could not bring him back, nor could they have done anything to stop his death. More upset than ever, they ran from the scene. The fact that yet another one of them was lost was eating away at them.

The monsters that had been behind him had disappeared. Anubis stood proudly over Otogi's body as he watched Otogi's friends flee.

_Run_, he thought. _Run all you wish, but that will not escape you from your past; from your fate from the Gods; from yourself._


	14. Fight as One: Man and Beast

The beauty of the canyon came to an end. At the end of the cliff was another stairway where they could safely exit. The stairs ended directly back on the trail which they had been on before. It led to a dark yet temperate forest. The leaves grown on the trees were the brightest of green. The trunks were strong, the branches long. While it shaded them from the sun, the area was harmonious. The calm breeze of the wind blew on them, and even the chirps of small birds could be heard.

Upon the entrance to the forest, the group stopped. There was another basket of food sitting before them. Though incredulous of its safety, they ate it. They were in no mood for eating. Otogi was gone. Yugi was gone. They were slowly disappearing from the world, one by one. Yami Yugi sat on the ground, resting his back against a tree. He buried his face in his arms resting on his knees. Their group of seven had become a group of five all in about a day. The thought depressed him, as it did for most of them, but he was clearly the most affected by it.

Eating only a few pieces of bread and drinking some water, Yugi somewhat separated himself from everyone again. He did not want to hurt them. He did not want to see them hurt anymore. Everything was overwhelming him, not just from what was happening now, but everything he had seen. All that he had been through in the present day, it all began coming back to him and haunted him. He wanted to get away from it all, but there was no escape. He knew as this particular journey progressed, everything would only become worse.

Everyone had been silent as they ate their small meals. They were still recovering from the shock caused by the death of Otogi. Talking about it would only make them feel worse. The topic itself was unavoidable, but it was never brought up in conversation.

"This is all too strange," Bakura began talking, finishing his food. "I'm still unclear as of where we are and why we're here."

"I think it's his point to not let us know where we are. He wants to keep us lost and questioned," Kaiba replied.

"That still doesn't answer why. It doesn't seem suiting to Anubis, so why here?" Jounouchi asked.

"Do we know that?" Yugi asked Jounouchi, though not looking up. "Do we honestly know what's suiting to him and what's not? Do we really know _him_?"

The group fell silent again to Yugi's comment. He was right. None of them truly knew him. It was not up to them to determine what fits him most.

"Let's go," Honda encouraged them to continue the trail. It was already the afternoon, much of the day being wasted by traveling. They expected to come across Anubis once more before the day died. Not wanting to delay it, the group got up and once again walked on the trail.

As they continued through the forest, they passed a tree which contained more hieroglyphic drawings on the trunk. Again, it showed seven people together, representing them. However, now there were two people crossed off in red. The shortest, Yugi, had already been marked off before, but now the person which stood next to two square shapes, containing a star on one and a hexagram on the other, was also gone. The squares clearly represented dice, and the person standing closest to them was Otogi. Trying to ignore the drawing, the group merely walked by it, not even acknowledging it to each other.

The forest lasted for good miles. Travel by walking made their departure from the forest slower. Leaving the forest meant entering another unique area. This time, it was a grassland area, filled with buildings of ancient civilizations. Structures of ancient Greece, Mesopotamia, and even China were there. Such structures normally could only be seen while vacationing or visiting, but all of these sights seemed to be gathered in one large, hilly area. Looking in astonishment, the trail lead to an old coliseum made in Rome. Seeing how the coliseums were used for battle and fights, they all assumed they would meet Anubis there next.

Entering the tall, circular, stone building, they went in through the entrance which the gladiators took to enter the arena. In the center of the fighting area, Anubis stood directly in the center. The group approached him together.

"I crave another victim," he said smiling. "Who will be next?"

Again, Yami Yugi wished to step forward, but Honda beat him to it. Honda held his arm in front of him so that he would not be tempted to move forward as well.

"I will, but I'll be no victim," Honda assured, holding a fist up.

"Puh," he sighed. He pointed to the exit for the rest of them. "Again, I encourage you all to stay and watch. Go take a seat in the stands."

The others left, leaving the same way they entered. After leaving the fighting grounds, all entrances to it were blocked by heavy bars with too narrow of a space for anyone to fit through. They walked around the circle for a bit, looking for an entrance to the stands. It was not hard to find, and they each quickly took a seat.

"So it is you," Anubis looked at Honda, "the strongest of the group. You have been blessed with physical power, have you not?"

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Honda asked him.

"Can you not take a compliment?" he laughed. "For Gods' sake, you take a compliment worse than any other I have encountered."

"Which in your case isn't many," Honda insulted.

Anubis turned away, having no desire to argue with him. He walked to the other end of the coliseum before turning back to Honda, who had remained standing in the center of the arena. Anubis pointed to the other end of the coliseum, indicating that was where he wanted Honda to be. With a hateful stare, Honda did as indicated.

"The coliseum, as history has told, was used for great battles with prisoners of the Roman empire. They fought against different people and creatures, all for the sake of survival. This will be no different, only it is not man versus beast or man versus man. It will be beast versus beast."

Honda raised an eyebrow.

"Pick any duel monster you wish, and that is the beast you will become. However, what comes with it is also the mind and instinct of the beast itself, which you will have to cooperate with. Fail to do so, and the both of you will crumble," he explained.

Overhearing the conversation, the group knew that Honda would be entering a physical fight to the death. The fact that it was possibly Honda's strongest game relieved them. Honda knew how to fight well, no matter what the situation.

"It is time to pick," Anubis told him. "Egyptian God monsters are off limits."

Having been around several duels and duel monsters, Honda thought of many possible choices. He thought possibly a warrior would be a wise choice. He would be able to use all human abilities, which he was familiar with. He then remembered he would be restricted to land only. If he took a monster with the ability to fly and fight on ground level, he would be better off. He then began thinking of any monster that could fly. His first thought was the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but he figured he would get a beating from Kaiba afterwards if he did. Repeating different duels in his head, he found a monster that seemed to suit him well.

"Thousand Dragon," he said. "That is my choice."

Everyone looked on as Honda's body began to glow. He grew several feet taller, and his muscles grew even larger. His skin became brown and he grew a tail. Horns grew out of his head as his face grew a large snout. His puny nails became sharp claws, his neck growing longer and wings sprouted out of his back. Before their eyes, Honda had become a Thousand Dragon. Jounouchi was satisfied with Honda's decision. Being one of the monsters he had used several times before, Jounouchi knew of its strengths. He figured Honda would be undefeatable as Thousand Dragon.

"My choice shall be Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon," Anubis told him.

Obviously having some relation to the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, no one knew much more about his chosen beast. He began to grow not only taller, but longer as well. His body became larger, yet thin for a normal beast. His arms became a different type of wings, them being three large curved blade-like wings. His body turned black, with little lines of orange on his wings, legs, stomach and face. Spikes grew from his back, and his tail grew several feet long. His neck and legs became longer as well, large black nails coming from his feet. When the transformation was complete, he looked more like a larger, more ferocious Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

"What's he done to Red-Eyes?" Anzu asked.

"It's summoned by the sacrifice of a Red-Eyes Black Dragon, at least that is how the card works," Seto informed.

Yugi knew of its great power, and began to worry for Honda. _Be careful, Honda._

Compared to Anubis, Honda was about half his size. It was immediately known that he would have to overcome the size disadvantage. Standing on his hind legs, Honda, in the body of Thousand Dragon, showed not even a glimpse of fear. In his own mind however, he was confused. He kept hearing another voice, another instinct that told him to do differently than what he wanted to. He had a strong enough mind to hold it back for the moment.

"Even if they try to interfere, they would only be asking for death," Anubis laughed, keeping his same voice and not that of the dragon. "Are you prepared? The fight for survival is about to begin. Wait for the bell to ring and that will be your starting point."

Honda was hardly listening. He was too busy trying to fight off the other spirit inhabited in the body. It kept arguing with him, telling him to attack and rip him to shreds. Honda could hardly restrain himself. He knew that the other half fighting him within his mind was the real Thousand Dragon. Unless he wanted to die, he needed to keep it under control. He needed to win this fight for the sake of himself and everyone.

Ding!

The bell rang. Anubis wasted no time to attack. He was already shooting a burst of immensely hot flames from his mouth. To avoid the hit, Honda shot his own attack from his nostrils. The two attacks collided and exploded, showing that it was a draw. Smoke crowded the arena as the two took flight. High above the coliseum, they flew at each other, flying right next to one another. The Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon's sharp claw-like wings cut Thousand Dragon's side as it flew by, cutting into him, but not deeply.

"Honda!" Anzu screamed to the sky, knowing her friend had just taken some damage.

Not even flinching in pain, Honda turned around and launched another attack from his nostrils. As Honda had done before, Anubis used his own attack to repel it. Instantly after the explosion Honda flew into him, bashing his gut with his skull. Anubis flew backward, but eventually moved away from Honda's head. He attempted to spit more flames at him, an attack Honda easily dodged. Honda flew at him again, which Anubis used his incredible speed to move from harm's way. At an extremely fast pace, he flew several feet from Honda then quickly turned around and flew back at him. They were again going to fly next to one another, but this time Honda dodged the sharp wing and used his claws to cut into his side.

"He hit him!" Jounouchi exclaimed. "Kick his ass, Honda!"

The two flew away from one another, and then turned back. Honda stuttered for a moment, continuing to resist the other presence within him. After he regained control, he went to meet Anubis, who was already flying towards him. Using a sly move, Honda flew up before Anubis' jaws could grasp onto him. When Anubis flew by, Honda dove down onto his back and dug his teeth and claws into it. Anubis cried in pain as he viciously flung his body around in an attempt to throw Honda off. Honda had sunk in deep, and refused to release his hold. Angrily, he flew back to the ground and squashed Honda on it. The impact from hitting the ground and Anubis' weight on top of him forced him to let go. Anubis stood up as Honda did the same.

_Attack…dig into the flesh…eat,_ Honda kept hearing. He kept putting it aside, but the voice grew stronger as well as the force. Honda could not keep control for long, so he figured it was best to defeat Anubis as soon as he could.

Using his long, powerful legs, Anubis leaped at Honda head first. Honda used his large hand and punched him away. Anubis went back, but landed on his feet, shaking his head trying to shake off the pain. Honda wasted no time in another attack. He used again the burst of energy from his nostrils, but Anubis flew out of the way. Anubis flew high and Honda followed him, flying towards him as fast as he could. Spinning to keep his opponent away, Anubis waited for Honda to back off before attacking. When he did, he flew right up next to him and used his left foot to scratch his right leg. Honda responded by using the claws on his right hand to upper cut a wound onto Anubis' chest. Anubis went to land to try to get a quick rest, thwacking Honda with his long, thick tail to keep him away.

_It will not be much longer_, he thought to himself as he stood on the ground for a quick rest, breathing heavily. _I have seen him hesitate. He is hardly holding it back. Soon it will take over._

Blood dripped from all over his body, but Anubis was not concerned. The wounds were painful, but it was nothing he could not handle. He was working with the other half that also inhabited the dragon's body, which was to his benefit. After catching his breath, he returned to the sky to face Honda, who had also been using that time for rest and to try to keep control of the dragon's spirit. When Anubis returned, they flew at one another again. Thousand Dragon's mind was now continually interfering with Honda's concentration, and threw him off his strategy when flying at Anubis. He flew right into Anubis' hard wing his had slamming into it and sent him falling. A cut on his head, he caught himself and put himself back in the fight. By the time he was back, Anubis was already using his fast flying to attack again, using his sharp wing to cut him in the gut as he flew by. With Anubis' back now turned, Honda weakly launched the attack from his nostrils again, this time connecting to at least his left leg. Anubis' leg burned and felt as if it were disintegrating.

"Did it work? Is he down?" Anzu asked, hardly able to see the fight above.

"No," Bakura confirmed. "Both of them are still up there."

"Well who's winning?" Anzu continued asking questions. Seto gave her the look which told her to be quiet and let them try to watch and figure out what was going on. She immediately fell silent after that, watching as well.

Honda found it harder and harder to focus on battle with Thousand Dragon's spirit constantly with his thoughts. The dragon's instincts and mind were thinking differently than that of his, and the contradiction of the two minds caused fighting. Honda could not do two fights at once, and the longer the fight continued, the worse it became. He could not resist the dragon anymore.

Anubis saw Honda shaking in place and his eyes no longer focused on him. His red eyes focused in on one of Honda's wings. If he could take out just one wing, he would lose the ability to fly, which would put him at a severe disadvantage. Aiming precisely, he breathed flames from his mouth directly at the center of his right wing. The flames connected and ended up burning a large hole into it. No longer able to fly, Honda began to fall fast back to the ground. To make him fall faster, Anubis dove and clamped his teeth onto the left side of Honda's ribs and flew straight down. Honda tried to fight him off, but it was no use. Right before Honda hit the floor, Anubis let go and flew back to the sky.

"Honda," Jounouchi screamed to him, "you gotta up! Now!"

Not hearing a word Jounouchi said, Honda was slow to rise. He had landed on his left leg, and now it felt stiff. His entire body felt as if it were about to fail. Worst yet, his control over himself now was minimal. Thousand Dragon had finally stopped Honda.

"Behind you!" Yugi shouted. Honda still heard nothing.

Anubis had snuck up behind him, and he dove right into the back of Honda, biting it with amazing power. He ripped off the skin from his back and used his healthy leg, while still in the air, to kick him. Honda was sent forward, landing on his chest, and rolled onto his side. All the wounds had added up on him, and he found himself lying in a puddle of the blood of his own beast. He tried to sit up, but Anubis had put a foot on his long neck, stopping him from moving. He was too weak to move around anymore.

The group ran up to the ledge of the coliseum stands but again was blocked by an invisible wall above the ledge which separated the stands from the arena. With the entrance they had used to get into the arena blocked, there was no way they could get to him.

"To cooperate and work as one is key," Anubis talked to him. "With so many people of different sorts, you must learn how to work with one another. The less you do that, the more hostile you and the people become, especially towards each other. Your inability to do that makes you a threat to yourself and others! It is not honor you die with, but shame."

Honda heeded those words. He was right. It was hard for him to work with others. He was stubborn, always wanting to go solo. He thought back to the time when he and Otogi along with Jounouchi's sister Shizuka had been dueling. He remembered how he refused to cooperate with Otogi in order to impress Shizuka. It led to his death and soul sealed in a robotic monkey. The experience was horrible, and he wished never to go through it again.

_I've forgotten_, he thought to himself, _that it's killed me before. And I let it happen again? I'm a disgrace._

His eyes glanced at his friends. Their looks of concern and sadness made him, for once, fear death. He wished at that moment he could change everything about the battle he had just fought. He had not the strength to fight anymore, even with his friends watching his final moments.

"I'm…sorry," he said to them, but no one heard him, and he knew it. He wished of all the ways to die, it would not have been recommitting a mistake of the past.

Anubis' large jaws opened and chomped on his skull. The dragon skull split open as blood poured out. Honda, too, was now gone.

With nothing more to do or say, the group made their way out of the coliseum, again fleeing from the scene. Even if they ran, they could not escape the terrifying image, or the terrifying truth that two of them had been picked off. If this were to continue, how much further could they possibly go? It was a question they all thought as they left the old Roman coliseum.

Returning to his normal form, Anubis held his wounds. The pain was only temporary, as he would momentarily close his wounds. He looked down at Honda, who had also returned to his regular body, carrying the wounds he had inherited from the fight. His lifeless body lay flat on the ground in blood as Anubis towered over him. He looked to the sun, which was setting on the horizon.

_Still running,_ he thought. _You are erasing yourselves. I am not responsible. No matter how far you go, you cannot stop the black hole you created from sucking you in._


	15. Misjudging His Past: Shining Dragon

They had been running, and did not stop. Even though they knew it would change nothing nor make them feel any better, they ran to the point it was near impossible to breathe. They wanted to be as far from the death sites as possible. Running on the trail, the group had been ways away from the canyon and coliseum, trying to leave it behind them and look forward. Going further only seemed to hurt them more. Honda and Otogi could not be left behind. They could not abandon their friends like that.

The full moon had overcome the sun in the velvet sky. Their time of rest and sleep was now. Having run endlessly for some time, the group came across a large hut. They took a peek inside to see a small table filled with fruits and glasses of water on it, along with small beds for the remaining five of them. Bakura, who was not sympathetic or upset of the events of the day, jumped right into eating while most of the others were more hesitant and depressed.

"I don't understand," Jounouchi began practically their only conversation of the night. "Why is he doing this to us?"

"Bonkotsu," Kaiba sighed, "we've already established this question, and we are yet to find the answer to it."

"Well I'm sick of waiting for it. I want explanations now!" he shouted, spitting out the food in his mouth.

"It's his hate against people," Yugi, knowing a few of the facts, tried to explain. "Life was not the easiest for him. In the harsh lands of the desert, he was cast out. He became an outsider learning how to live for himself. Because of his name, no one trusted him and wanted nothing to do with him. People's judgments and discrimination has driven him to killing. He wants to wipe out society."

Seto sighed.

"In other words, we have ourselves a one-manned Doma," he complained.

"Not exactly," Yugi said. "The fact that they both want to destroy humans is the only similarity between the two. What he plans to do after that I'm not exactly certain. I think it's safe to assume, for now, that he wants to rule over a world of dead."

"Another power-hungry bastard. Hmph, and he calls himself better than the rest of us. It's not our fault he had such a miserable past and saw no goodness. Yet he finds the need to take it out on us," Jounouchi grumbled.

"That's mostly my fault," Yugi admitted. He looked away. "The fact that I'm here with you automatically puts you in danger of him. I know that's not fair to you."

Jounouchi kneeled next to him.

"He messes with one of us, he messes with all of us," he said, supporting him. "It's not your fault. Don't worry. We're with you."

Yugi smiled, and Jounouchi, assuming he felt a little better, went to bed. The rest soon followed.

The candles were blown out and the hut was a bright yet dark color as they slept. Yugi however, had stayed awake, listening to the breeze blow the hut's entrance. It sounded so relaxing, yet it would not put him to sleep. Nothing could. He would not get a wink of sleep as long as the people he loved continued dying. And no matter what anyone said, he continued to blame himself for all that had happened and all that was happening. Three of them were gone. If all of them were lost, he did not know what he would do.

_Otogi, Aibou, Honda,_ he repeated their names in his head. _What have I done to you? Where have you gone?_

Quietly, Yugi walked out of the hut and sat on a nearby rock. He looked up to the sky, the stars shining so brightly in the sky. The beauty of the scenery only continued to beat on his conscience. They were of a gorgeous, friendly state, but they were so far away, out of his reach. Even if he reached to the sky, he would not be close to them. He could not pull them out of the darkness, and he could only watch them remain there. Yami Yugi pounded the ground, thinking of Yugi and Honda and Otogi, and how he had already lost them. He found that he was beginning to fall with the thing that kept him up starting to break apart. And what he would grab onto to prevent himself from hitting rock bottom and climb back up he did not know.

"You're already short enough to be mistaken for a kid. Don't convince them that you are by acting like one," a voice from behind him spoke.

Yugi turned around, wiping his tears away. Seto was walking towards him. He took a seat next to him as he looked up at the moon.

"I hope Mokuba is okay," he said. "It's been two days."

Yami Yugi understood how important his younger brother was to him, but not the purpose or importance of the statement at the time.

"I worry a lot for him," Seto expressed. "Whether I'm giving him the life we never had as kids. Your parents being killed isn't something you get over in a night. An orphanage filled with hostility is not an ideal home. Being placed into some family you don't know is not an easy adjustment. The life behind me, I hate it. I don't like to think about it, because nothing I do now or in the future is going to change it. I don't want to look back at it, but it keeps coming back to me so that I'm forced to face it. It's possibly the ugliest thing I've ever seen, and I hate to stare at it even for a second, because then I'm afraid I'll wrap myself in it and may never come out."

Yugi was silent as he listened to Kaiba. He had learned something about him he did not know before. It was not just the fact Kaiba hated the past because he thought it was useless, but because he was ashamed and afraid of it.

"Whatever happened back then is permanent, but what's ahead is always changeable. You can always decide your destiny and make your way to it to fulfilling that destiny, but you can never go backwards to fix your history to your desire. You can only go back to repeat the steps you already took so that you succeed to get nowhere. That's what I hate most, but it's what I accept and it's why I only move forward and not back, to run further from it, even though I know it continues to follow me. I dare not stop to let it catch up to me. I know if I get far enough from it, it will be so far from me that it will no longer be a worry."

He was beginning to make sense of what Kaiba was saying. Yugi's mind had only been on what was already done and uncontrollable when he needed to focus on the present and near-future moments. The past would never go away, but he could use it as a source to run closer to his self-decided destiny.

"Of all the times to have a downfall, now would not be a good one. Bring yourself back to here and not back there," Seto told him. He stood back up from the rock and returned to the hut.

Yugi remained outside until Kaiba had disappeared back into the hut. He could not have asked for anything more than what Seto had just given him.

"Kaiba," he said softly to himself as he returned to the tent as well. He was still unable to sleep, but he did get rest. Lying shirtless on the bed, Yugi relaxed. He was calm now, and the battle within his mind against the dreadful flashbacks and memories looked to begin to end.

They slept in later than they had the previous day. It was not a pleasant or easy rest, but it was longer to say the least. Upon awaking, the smell of freshly cooked food was just down the trail. Jounouchi leading them down the trail, the group did not travel far before running into another platter of food. Perfectly cooked meat, alongside vegetables, lied on plates on a blanket, ready to eat. Jounouchi and Bakura dug right into the steak, hardly stopping for a drink of water. Though not eating as quickly as the two of them did, everyone ate quickly. Though they knew their lives were at stake, they were anxious for another challenge from Anubis.

Completing their meals, the group walked on. The land continued bringing beautiful sites and great weather. Walking past a large stone, drawings had been carved into it. It was the hieroglyphics again. A new figure, the one with head of a human yet the body of a large ox, was now crossed off along with the other two. Again they took no time to stop and stare at it, continuing walking by it.

Climbing on top of a hill, they looked out and saw they had approached a large lake. They were a bit of a distance from it, but they did not see Anubis down there near it, nor did the trail lead to it. The group could not help but stare at the lake in confusion.

"So we were lead here…for nothing?" Jounouchi complained. "That's just swell."

Turning to leave, many ripples in the lake began to form, despite there being no wind and nothing falling into it. The group stopped to quickly witness this rare moment only to see the ripples creating a movie-screen like illusion. In this illusion, a small child with long blonde hair and a rather wide, yet not fat body. He looked completely dirty and his body beaten down. Walking bear foot across a town of sand and stone buildings, wearing only crappy rag-like material for clothing, the child carried a heavy pale of water back to the house. His thirst told him to take a sip of this water, but he knew he could not. His goal was to retrieve this water and return it, not to drink it, and he always did as he was told for the fear of being caught and not given shelter or food for the night.

"What is this?" Anzu asked as she watched on.

"Could it be…?" Bakura spoke almost to himself.

"It's him," Yugi confirmed, noticing the necklace with the God's pearl he wore around his neck. "Anubis."

The child Anubis was feet away from his house when he accidentally ran into someone else walking in the street, dropping the pale and splashing it over the man's legs. Anubis looked up as the hateful man looked down at him in disgust.

"Devil child, watch where you step! You and your cursed name are going to destroy us all!" he scorned. The man took a knife from his belt and slashed at his face with the blade, cutting his face up. These wounds were not death dealing, but painful and would surely leave long lasting scars. After slashing him a few times in the face, the man walked away. Though this was not the first time some one had used a weapon on him, it would be the first time that it would remain with him for all to see.

His face burned and blood dripped down his face, but it was the least of his concerns. With the pale of water now empty, Anubis again had to go retrieve the water, and faster for his master would be upset if he were extremely late. If he were upset, he would surely get worse from him than he did from the man on the street.

The vision flashed to later that day. Anubis was sitting outside the entrance to the home as the rest of the people of the building ate. His face was still scratched up from the earlier assault.

"I do not trust this meal," one of them complained. "It's probably contaminated by that boy! He's here to curse us all!"

Anubis continued to listen to the feuding about him for a few minutes, each insult getting worse than the next. He finally could not tolerate it. He received enough insult during the day, and he needed it not anymore during the night. He went to the side of the building and grabbed a twig nearby. Sitting down, he began to draw, trying to not concentrate on their bickering and become lost in his own thoughts. The pictures he drew were not of the regular Egyptian drawings. They contained much more detail, as if being real. The picture he drew was of a beautiful land, one of perfection and purity, and it was full of life. When he stopped drawing, the pearl in his necklace began to glow. The land around him shined and faded away as it was then replaced with a different, gorgeous world. Looking around, Anubis recognized it as the land he just drew in the sand, only now with color and sound and scent. Finally away from all the anger and hate, he jumped into a river underneath a nearby miniature waterfall. The dirt on him would not come off with this water, as he knew, but he did not care. He drank this natural water of joy, having not done so the entire day. He swam in it until he grew too tired to do so anymore. On this earth, he could not have been happier.

It took Yugi a moment to realize that that waterfall was one he knew. It was the same one he had run to after they had come to this place. He remembered trying to wash the blood off his clothes in the water and not being able to. It clicked! He knew where they were now.

"That's where we are," he told everyone as he kept his eyes on the lake.

"What?" Bakura asked him as if he were crazy.

"That world he created, that is where we are," he repeated.

"That can't be," Kaiba said. "How do you know this?"

"The waterfall, I was there. It was the exact same one," Yugi mentioned.

The group looked around. Seeing the beauty and perfection of the land, it made sense in their minds that Yugi was right. It was Anubis' world they were in.

Several more visions of Anubis being tormented were shown to them. And every time, it ended in a similar scene with him outside of his master's home, continuing to draw onto his previous one. Each time, he added something new to it, mostly just additions to the scenery. Unlike the world of reality, his world lacked the intense atmosphere and the many angry people. While he did like it that there was no one there to beat on him, each time he added to it, he became lonelier. He wished he could share this special place with someone other than himself. But he was all he had.

The vision flashed over to another day. While out in the city, Anubis found a scrap of food sitting on the ground. Never getting much to eat, Anubis dove to the ground to get it. Before he could get to it, some other person in the street had picked it up away from him, knowing he was after it.

"This doesn't belong to you. You should not take things that are not yours," the man, a different one from earlier, taunted him. He took the food and walked away.

His body full of sand now, Anubis stood up and wiped himself clean of the sand. Tears fell from his eyes as he went to continue on into the city. Before he went though, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Assuming it was another commoner coming up to humiliate him more, he bothered not to turn around.

"I share your pain of rejection…" someone whispered in his ear. It was the voice of a girl. Her voice was so soft and calming, and it had such a friendly tone. Hearing such a voice, Anubis was convinced to turn around, hoping not to be deceived. The girl of medium height held out her hand and handed him some food. This girl, she contained long white hair and the most gorgeous pair of blue eyes anyone could hold. Her skin was pale, but her smile benign. Nobody had ever looked at him like this before. No one had ever shown such kindness, such love to him. After receiving the food, she smiled even more at him and ran off. He stood there for a few moments in a daze, unsure if what he had just seen or what had just happened was true to him. He felt rapturous in his heart as he stood frozen, thinking only of her. When he was brought back to reality, he became upset that he didn't even know her name.

Later that night, he was drawing again, only he had a different addition to his world. This time it was not an addition to the land, but he was now adding his first beast. He was careful when drawing this one. He wanted no errors in it. This beast was full of detail, the most detailed drawing he'd done. It was a magnificent beast with two stunning wings and a wavy long tail. With long legs and blue gems on its body, this would be a beast that not only stood out by its amazing image, but by its strength. It was something Anubis normally could only see in a dream if he was lucky. When he was finished, he returned to his world again, the beast he drew flying in the sky. It was night in his world as well, but this monster's body shined just as bright as the sun. The monster flew before him, standing on its hind legs smiling at him.

"This is my strength; this is my light; this is my love. The shining white dragon with blue eyes, you make me whole. You and I understand one another and need to be together," he spoke kindly to it. The dragon cried to the sky. "May you shine your light in the real world and show the brightness of you and I."

The dragon flew off into the night sky, lighting it up.

It flashed to another day. Anubis had been sent to retrieve some fish for that night's dinner. On his way back, he saw three men circled around a helpless body, taking turns kick at it and throwing rocks at it. Anubis stopped to see who it was, and the men moved temporarily so he could have a clear sight at who it was. It was her again; Blue-Eyes as he called her. She covered her face with her arms as the men continued to kick her. And all the while they could only laugh as they overpowered. Two of the men grabbed her by her arms, her thin, beaten body being held up.

"I claim first dibs on 'er," one said.

"No fair! I get her first!" another one argued.

"Both of you shoddup!" the third one shouted. "If you're not quiet people are go' nah overhear us. So why don't we make this easy…ond let me hov her first."

They laughed even harder. Anubis had heard enough out of them. He dropped his fish and made his way over to them. Though he was extremely short and weak in comparison to the three men, he was not afraid of them. He was determined to make them stop their assault on Blue-Eyes, and make them pay for what they had done. The men turned their heads to see Anubis standing next to them.

"Leave her alone," he growled. "What you are doing is sick and wrong."

The trio laughed.

"Ya! Sure! We ah just go' nah stop cos you told us to!" one said.

"If you touch her again, I swear to Ra I will…" he threatened them.

They laughed even harder. The two that held the girl's arms dropped her as the three surrounded Anubis.

"Alright then, cursed name," the largest of them smiled. "We'll beat you down instead. How does that sound? Good?"

The three men clinched their fists, grunting. Anubis reached for something underneath the rags he wore. The trio made a run at him as he quickly withdrew the blade hidden in his clothes. He slashed the blade at the one nearest to him deeply across the head. It happened so quickly that the others did not see it happen and continued their attacks. Anubis stabbed the other in heart and grabbed the shirt of the other man and putting him in a headlock until he could remove the dagger from the other man's chest. When he was able to do so, he swiftly slit his throat, and all three lied dead in the blood puddles of the sand.

He was covered in blood now, but nonetheless had his revenge and was satisfied. Smiling in a happy state, he turned to the girl, who shook and stared at him with fear. Anubis' angry look became sad and friendlier as he walked over to Blue-Eyes. She took a step away.

"You do not have to suffer at their hands anymore," he said softly to her. "You do not have to suffer at the hands of anyone anymore. We innocent ones do not need to live here any longer. Let us run away to a land where no such hate exists, where no such darkness exists, only light, even in the sky of the night."

He continued walking towards her, but she kept stepping away. He did not understand why she was resisting him. He wanted to take her away from this place of misery. She was the one he wanted to live with in his other dimension. Blue-Eyes did not understand that. The only thing she saw in him now is rage, and cold, and resentment, all the things she was afraid of.

"You…you saved me," she told him, "but you have killed them. Y-you've found pleasure in killing."

"No!" he denied. "I do not kill for enjoyment!" He looked at the bloodied bodies of the men he'd killed. "I-I killed for what was right! It was for you!"

Blue-Eyes backed away.

"I know," she said. "And for that I am grateful…but I can't stand to see you now, soaked in the blood of your enemies, proud that you've taken a life. Is that truly right, or is that just feeding your suffering?"

She wanted to stay no longer. She ran off into the empty city, leaving Anubis behind on the street with the corpses of his prey. Anubis dropped the dagger and fell to his knees, crying to the sky. He had pushed away the only thing he valued in his life.

The vision went from that scene to another scene of him outside at night, drawing. These next drawings were also of beasts, but not like the ones of before. They contained detail just like most of his drawing, but lacked the creativity of his first one. These were three four-legged beasts of great, dark power. They were designed to look vicious and evil, and to perform acts of horror and hate. Before transporting himself back to his world, he saw the dragon he had drawn a few nights ago. At that moment, he wanted to take the dagger and stab it straight through the heart, wanting to be rid of it and its beauty. He held the dagger in his hand, but he could not stab down on it. Something deep within him would not let him erase Blue-Eyes from himself. He knew he would never be able to see her again, nor would she ever want to come away with him, but still wanted to keep her with him. He could only hope there was someone like her out there, another beautiful shining light that would guide him. But for now, she was all he had. It was an impossible hope.

He put the dagger away and went away to his world again, time freezing. The three new creatures he had made out of darkness were now with him. Of course, only when they combined their powers were they stronger than that of the dragon he created. His four monsters stood with him underneath the cloudless sky. His heart was in balance.

The visions in the lake faded away and the ripples on the water calmed. No one could think of a comment on what they just saw. Having heard about it became much different than actually seeing it. At least for that one time, they could not have total anger against Anubis for he always had nothing to hang on to.

"He was shaded," Anzu said. "That's why he's so cold. But there has to be something in him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have created the dragon."

Kaiba looked at his duel disk. For some odd reason, he was the most affected by the imagery, especially of the white haired girl.

"Strength, light, love…those were all the sources of life that Anubis wanted," Kaiba said. "He thought that he found that in Blue-Eyes. She is, to him, the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon."

The group had gotten half of the answer to their biggest question: why? For now, they were satisfied with half of an answer. Speechless, the group continued on the trail, still holding the same hostility, but more sympathy towards their enemy.


	16. Deep Within, Nothingness

**_Author's note: Alright, let me first of all sincerely apologize for the delay in the update, but I have very good reasons for that. For one thing, something kind of happened, and I was down for a few days. It seems to be getting better now, so that's good. The other thing is that my teachers find that the entire year isn't enough to torture us with loads of work, so they really pounded us hard this last week of school, plus finals next week. So I'm really sorry for the delay, I've just been really busy. Well, here it is now, so enjoy and thanks for reading! It's appreciated _**

Guilt had beat on them a bit as they continued on the trail. Not until they had actually seen what had really happen did they truly understand just how miserable everything was for him. Everything he had ever told to them, more so Yami Yugi, was a common day thing to moan about in their world, so it was easy to assume it was only simple complaint and did not take it as seriously as it should have been. The true extremes of his situation had hit them hard.

The trail led them into a cave of shining crystals. Everything in the cave besides the ground sparkled from the purple, pink, clear crystals hanging on the walls on and the ceiling. The lighting in the cave hardly became darker, so they were able to see where they were going as they continued on. Finally, they had come to a larger area of the came, Anubis standing in the middle of it, waiting for them. They took a cautious approach towards him, but their looks toward him were not as vengeful.

"We didn't know that-" Anzu tried to talk to him, but he cut her off.

"I do not want nor need your sympathy," he stated. "An act with no reason is simply sick. It would be inane for me to see myself better than anyone if my actions were not justified."

"Why do you kill?" Kaiba asked him. "Do you think because you can kill people makes you better than them?"

Anubis did not bother answering his question.

"I did not come here to explain everything," he said. "I came here to play."

The group looked at each other. As usual, Yami Yugi wanted to be the one to take the challenge, but he was again stopped. Unexpected, Bakura put his arm in front of Yugi, signaling he would fight this time. What a surprising fighter he was. He had hardly anything to say this entire time, and he was definitely not the most courageous or strongest of the group, but he took the fight anyway. Knowing he was being seen oddly by his friends, Bakura made himself sound completely serious.

"I'll be okay," he told them. "I'll fight him this time."

Deep inside, Yami Bakura only laughed.

Anubis pointed to a narrow stairway that led them to an upper level of the cave. Up there was a window which they could watch from. Still unsure whether Bakura would be fit for such a fight, the group waited a moment before leaving. Bakura shooed them away, trying to convince them he would do just fine. Eventually they gave in and headed up the curvy stairs to the upper level. Once up the stairs, a massive boulder fell in front of the narrow path, blocking the way back.

"We are alone now," Anubis smiled at him. "Now if you want to stop hiding behind that phony innocence…"

Yami Bakura knew what he was talking about. His face became darker and his eyes now had a death stare. He smiled as if he had just taken pleasure in killing someone. As he had suspected, the spirit present in this foe was not his true self. It was of another being, one much more twisted and sick, almost the complete opposite of him.

"Humph, so you return," Yami Bakura laughed. "How many times are you going to come back and fail?"

"I have not failed, not this time," Anubis argued back.

"Have not failed yet," Bakura mocked. "I see straight through your plan. When I saw those visions, I understood. You know that it won't work."

"I have on my hands a know it all," Anubis laughed at him. "Alright then, if you know what I am planning to do, tell me why it will not succeed."

"It's simple: mortals are not good enough for it. They aren't good enough to die. They can only continue their own failing path until they die. That is their fate," he said.

"You have no power to tell the fate of people, where as I can determine and enforce it. And that is what I will do," Anubis almost bragged. "Tell me: what is your purpose? Why have you come back? What is it you plan to carry out?"

Bakura stood in silence. The fact of the matter was he did not know how to answer his questions.

"Why do you hesitate?" Anubis asked him. "Do you not have a motivation, or are you driven merely by instinct?"

"Driven…by hate," Bakura admitted, because it was the only thing he knew. "I know what I have to do, and I'll do it, no matter what becomes of it! I know there's something I don't see, but I feel the answers will come shortly."

"No, you will never know the answers. Your time ends here."

"I'll end here? I'm not the one with a curse upon his soul. You can never rest in peace. You're left to wander the Earth aimlessly, alone and unseen. That must be miserable."

"That curse has become my strength, because I can never die. I can always come back and continue on my destruction. You were able to come back, but again you have been left in the body of another soul, memorizing only hate. To me, it is you that is the unfortunate one."

"Let's not forget that any destruction you do is undone," Bakura smirked. "Continue your destruction my ass. If you mess up once, you have to start over."

"As if it is hard to put back things to the place they were. Better yet, putting them back in a new, better order you had never even thought of before. That is how it works."

"You think you're so immortal, but I plan to show you that that's not true, and you're nothing but a fake."

"You dare to call me fake when you use your host as a disguise?"

Their argument continued for a few minutes. Watching from upstairs, the group could not hear a word being said. They knew that there were things being said that Anubis did not want them to hear. They watched on as the argument between the two came to an end.

"There is no need to argue about strength when it will soon be determined. Who will win his game? This will determine the one who brings him down," Anubis told him.

Yami Bakura did not understand him, but he was ready for him. He still believed this man was a weaker foe than what he looked; his strength was merely overrated. He went to the other end of the cave, as Anubis did the same. Amazingly, the Millennium Ring appeared around his neck. He grabbed and looked at it, wondering how it came to be with him again.

"Do not get your hopes up. That is not the real Sennen item," he told him. "It is only for the use of this fight."

As long as he had something relatively close to a Millennium Item, Yami Bakura had confidence he would win this fight. He was well aware of how to work with it. The grin on his face seemed irremovable with the ring around him.

"In this battle, I shall face you, Bakura!" Anubis pointed at him.

"Idiot, I know that," Bakura laughed. "Get on with it already."

"I believe you misinterpreted me. I said I would be facing Bakura, not you," he laughed loudly.

"What?" the grin finally left his face in confusion.

Anubis' pearl began to glow. Yami Bakura felt himself separating from his host. He no longer had control of the body, and all senses of touch and scent had been lost. Yami Bakura now knew he would not be in this fight. He saw as his soul was completely away from the original Bakura. Even his own spirit he could not control. Anubis had him caught.

"You, too, are mortal," Anubis told Bakura. "That makes you like everyone else."

"Kisama!" Yami Bakura scolded.

"Do you honestly think you would accomplish anything by using your weaker half as a shield?" he yelled. "You are nothing but a cowardice opportunist, one without courage to face his own problems straight up! Such scoundrels will not be given any chances, especially ones with no memory."

Yami Bakura's soul began to disappear. He screamed in pain as he was slowly disintegrating into the air.

"It is to Hell with you," was the last thing he heard before completing vanishing to Hell.

The group had watched that entire thing from above. They felt immensely deceived by Bakura, whom they had trusted so much earlier. However, they knew it was not of the real Bakura's control. It was his dark side that had been using Bakura for such acts.

"Wait, if Yami Bakura is down there, then Bakura is down there!" Jounouchi panicked.

"What?" Honda tried to understand him.

"Yami Bakura has vanquished…so that means…fighting Anubis right now…is Bakura Ryou…" Yugi explained.

The group turned back to watch through the window. Bakura Ryou had fallen after his Yami had been released from him. Slowly, he rose to his feet, unsure of where he was and why. A bit frightened, Bakura looked behind him to see a significantly larger in every aspect Anubis at the other side of the room. He stepped away, but progressed nowhere.

"Who are…you? Where am I? Why I am here?" Bakura asked him. "What's going on?"

"Such a mindless fool you are," Anubis said to him. "You have no idea what is happening do you?"

Bakura shook his head. He was standing against the wall behind him, moving as far as he could from his enemy.

"You are in a Yami no Game," he told him. "Around you neck you wear a copy of the Sennen no Ring. With it, you are to use a powerful stream which strength is determined little by the physical strength, but by the will of its user. It will shoot automatically, but how long it lasts and how it matches with the opposing stream depends on the strength of the will and desire of the item holder. That is you."

Bakura's face turned white. He had been given the shock of his life. He was stuck in a game to the death with someone he didn't even know. Even worse, he knew not where he was, how he turned to be there, or why.

"This is exactly what you did to Pegasus, or do you not remember that either?" he asked Bakura.

Bakura had no answer. He did not know of anything Anubis was telling him. He just wanted to get away from everything, but had nowhere to run. He was trapped.

"Whether you are ready or not, the game is on…now!" Anubis told him.

Energy streams of bright lights emerged from the ring and Anubis' pearl. At the center of the room in the cave, the two streams collided. The streams continued directly attacking one another, neither of them fading or weakening. Bakura was still dazed as of exactly what was going on. He did not know how he was tapping into the powers of the Millennium Ring, but he tried urge himself on so he could leave. This allowed him to keep his stream of light kept up with Anubis' for a bit of time, but Bakura became tired anxious. He did not want to be there or hurt anyone. He wanted to be left alone. The more he thought about wanting to leave, wanting to end it, the less urgency he had within him. It led to the weakening of his stream, and it was becoming overpowered by his foe. Both began moving closer to him until his could no longer stand up to Anubis'. Bakura thought if he gave him the victory, he could leave. From the start, he truly had no faith in himself he could win, and he had no intention of winning. From the beginning of the fight, there was no chance for Bakura, especially without his Yami.

Bakura's stream had become too weak, and it faded when it was a few feet from hitting him. Anubis' stream went straight against Bakura, knocking him back to the wall. Bakura laid on the ground in defeat, holding his back as Anubis walked over to him.

"Bakura!" Yami shouted from the top, the window blocking the sound. He knew what was coming and could not stand to watching losing another one of his friends. He ran back down the stairs in hope he could save him. Everyone else followed him, trying to stop him from getting himself killed, for they doubted Yugi alone could stop him. Arriving at the bottom of the stairs, they found it was blocked by a boulder. Together, they tried to push it free. Even all of them could not make it budge. Though they knew they were making no progress, the group continued to push.

Back in the cave, Bakura continued lying on the ground. Anubis stood above him, looking at him in disgust.

"You've won," Bakura told him. "Now could you leave me? I just want to be alone…"

"I do not give my enemies what they want," Anubis laughed. "Fool, do you not know you have inhabited a dark spirit in your body for the longest time?"

"I…" Bakura stuttered. He could not admit the truth. It was not Yami Bakura using Bakura as a shield, but more of the opposite. He hid behind his darker half. His life had been full of hardships and tragedy. He couldn't take it! As long as he had his Yami, he would be strong and be protected! It was the only way he could be.

"You are the most pathetic living being I have ever seen!" Anubis screamed at him. "You are a nothing! You hide in fear of life and have no desire to play it out! You run and hide so nothing happens to you! It is so much easier to run, is it not? Well no one ever got anywhere by running and hiding!"

Bakura looked away. He wasn't going to deny it. Anubis thought of him just as he thought of himself: a weak and cowardly being. Nothing for him ever seemed to go right, and so he was always alone, and that was how he wanted it. He did not want to bring harm to anyone, so he stood alone for much of his life.

Anubis could not stand looking at such a person. Someone so weak, he could not tolerate. He would be rid of him, but not without making him suffer first. He grabbed hold of Bakura, who did not even bother to fight back, and viciously began beating him. Throwing him against the crystal covered walls, the sharp edges of these stones dug into his skin. Along with furious punches and kicks, every piece of Ryou began to feel broken. Cuts scattered about his body bled all over, as well as his nose. He could hardly move, let alone breathe. Bakura simply lied down taking anything that came at him. To him, there was no point in trying to even defend himself when all his defense would do is fall.

Behind the boulder, the group could hear Bakura shriek in pain as he was tossed around like a ragged doll. They knew Anubis was ripping him apart, and Bakura could not fight up against him. They pushed the boulder even harder to no avail. It simply could not be moved by the likes of them. Nevertheless, they continued anyway.

Anubis paused momentarily to remind Bakura of something he had never revealed to anyone, the one thing that sparked his fear. Anubis did not want to kill Bakura before haunting him with it.

"I know why," he pressed his foot on his chest. Bakura coughed. "Years ago, you had been left alone by your parents…except you were not very alone, were you? You were not the only one there. Left behind also was your sister, Amane. What a sweet young girl she was, and she was left solely to your responsibility."

Bakura's eyes began to water, remember his younger sister.

"But that was a responsibility you could not handle!" he continued. "That fatal day, your sister was walking across the street to retrieve some food from the store. You came outside and saw her…and saw the car coming. It came so fast, but it was at a distance which you could have saved her from it. Instead, you watched on as it slammed on its breaks not in time to stop itself from hitting her. She was hit hard…so hard that she goes flying feet down the street. Worst of all, she did not die instantly. She had to suffer through minutes of pain before death. And what did you do? Be nothing but a spectator! Even after she was hit, you did not come to her aid! Nobody knows of her, and it is all because you have kept her existence and death a secret! You were ashamed of her! What kind of a person are you? Were you too concerned about your own life being hit by that car rather than hers?"

Bakura covered his ears. He did not want to listen anymore. He was already haunted by this memory everyday, and it hurt him. It was not his shame in her, but himself. He refused to acknowledge it for his own sake, to stop him from putting himself down more than he already did.

By saying that, Anubis knew he had done enough suffering to Bakura. Yet he was not through. He continued his assault after that, and Bakura's body became nothing more than blood and bones. Anubis slammed him to the ground, and desperately Bakura crawled on the ground to his aggressor's feet.

"I…I know…what I did…about her…wasn't right," Bakura cried, with tears flowing from his eyes and blood from his mouth. "I can't…keep pretending…it never happened; that she never existed. Please…make me pay for it. If that would be death…then so be it."

Anubis looked at him, and suddenly had remorse. It suddenly occurred to him that Bakura's life was easier than his was. He too was alone and haunted by something. For him, it was his sister, while for Anubis, it was his name and cursed soul. While Anubis did not find their similarities enough to forgive him for what he was, it was enough to stop a torture that could have gone on for much longer. He took the dagger from his boot and grabbed Bakura by what was left of his shirt. He pressed him gently against the wall.

"You are not forgiven, but I will release you from your misery," Anubis said to him, holding the dagger to his chest. Bakura had accepted it.

He pointed the tip of the blade at his heart area and stabbed straight through it. He dropped the body to the floor.

The gang was still pushing the boulder. Anzu had run up the stairs to look out the window and see if he was still okay. When she was upstairs, she had just missed the killing. All she saw was a lifeless, beaten Bakura lying against the wall, Anubis standing next to him. She knew there was no longer a need to continue attempting to push the boulder. Bakura was already gone.

She ran down and informed the others of Bakura's death. Angrily, the remainder of them stopped pushing. They had never felt so helpless. Even when trying to save someone, it could not be done and everyone was doomed. At that point, they began questioning as of whether continuing the trail was even worth it if they were only going to end up in failure. Kaiba, being the only one refusing to be taken down by this thought, led them out of the cave.

And only four remained.

**_Author's Note: I've read little Yu-Gi-Oh Manga, so I do not know the full story of Bakura's sister Amane, other than the fact she was killed (and I think it was by a car accident, too). So if I have that wrong, I apologize._**

**_On another note, summer is almost here! Just have finals next week to deal with, and I'm done! My schedule for finals isn't too tough, so perhaps I will get some time to work on 17 during then. As far as updates in the summer go, I can give you no guarantee I will be able to update every week as I usually do, but I'll do my best to give them as frequently as possible. I tried to get this done before summer vacation, but obviously that didn't happen. I have quite a few chapters to go before this story is complete._**

_**I hope that everyone is doing well, and that everyone has a great summer! I hope you continue reading and reviewing. Love y'all!**_


	17. God's True Intentions

Exiting from the cave, the remaining four, Jounouchi, Yami Yuugi, Kaiba, and Anzu, ran until nightfall, coming upon another tent. Yuugi, Otogi, Honda, and Bakura were gone. Half of them had been lost in a matter of three days. Not only were they depressed by their losses, but the fear of defeat began to brush upon them as well. Their foe seemed unbeatable. They would fight to their deaths they knew, but they could not help but worry about what would become of everyone if they did not succeed.

Hardly any words were said that night in the hut. They were provided with food again, but even that could not brighten the mood. Even Jounouchi had nothing to say. Tension was high, and there was no sleep. Yuugi, who had not gotten a bit of sleep the past two days, was not tired. All he could think about was his vengeance against Anubis and how he did not care what his past was like. All he wanted was justice, and he could not rest until he had it.

After eating breakfast in the morning, the group continued on the path. They had been traveling the same path the entire time they had been there. There was no fork in the road, nor any alternate paths. There was only one way to go, but where it led to was unknown. It took them to see sites of beauty and purity. On this day, it took them to a hilly area, covered with the wonderful white powder of snow. The wind blew as snow fell from the sky, and amazing enough, the temperature hardly underwent any change. It was a bit colder, but not much, than it had been before. This made the snow even more admirable. It was of a pure white color, and it sparkled with the little sunlight on it. Despite the blizzard-like weather, the trail was still visible, and the quad continued to follow it.

Approaching a tall, steep hill, a silhouette stood atop of it. The four of them stopped, not wanting to approach it yet they were prepared for another challenge. The silhouette was no one other than Anubis.

"I believe that you have my intentions all wrong," he said to them.

Yami Yugi would not spare him. He attempted to run up the hill and strangle his enemy, but the hill contained ice, making him slip instantly. He tried a few more times before admitting the ice would prevent him from reaching his prey.

"You are a complete fool," he laughed at Yugi's attempt. "A fool like you is so undeserving."

"What do you mean by undeserving? It's not as if I'm the only one you want to kill! You want to kill everyone," Yugi yelled. "Your only purpose for bringing us here is suffering!"

"Wow, you are one to draw conclusions quickly. Did you not learn anything from the visions in the lake?" he asked him.

"Your past," Yugi growled.

"And what from my past did you learn?"

"That it sucked," Jounouchi said.

Anubis just sighed in annoyance.

"You know, you are worse than a bonkotsu," he insulted.

Jounouchi became enraged by his comment.

"That dragon," Kaiba began, "that isn't just your light, but it's the light that exists within others. Not composed of much, but it's strength cannot be compared to anything else."

He looked at Kaiba with a smile.

"I realized that not all the world was like the one I lived in," he explained. "There are some who have hearts in balance. Some are well known and despite living life of fame do not let it corrupt their minds. Some go unnoticed; the ones that do the small things that make a big difference yet are never credited for what they do. Those are the ones that do not deserve this life, and are innocent of any of life's cruelties. However, those are far and between, and soon they too will be lost in this world with everyone else."

Seto laughed at him. To him, it was nothing but opinionated nonsense.

"Don't you see that people choose the way they live? There isn't a person that lives the same life as one another, like you say most people do," Seto explained.

"You are right; people do decide their own life. While they may not pick to live the exact same way, though, they live the same fashion of discrimination and greed. They only care for their own selfish desires; only what is beneficial for their own purposes. The fact that they choose this style of life to live makes it even more pathetic. It shows that people are incapable of making decisions of justice, equality, and peace, which only sinks them deeper into destruction. That is why those people must be lost. They only shorten the life span of those who are undeserving of such a dreadful fate."

"So you think we're part of the group of those who don't deserve to live," Anzu accused him.

He nodded.

"I am taking what is left of here and using that as building blocks, and the dead souls will keep my alive. Earth will be abandoned and a new life will be born in perfection. You will not be part of it."

"Look, maybe I'm guilty of such acts, but they are not! Why did you have to kill them? They've done nothing," Yugi argued.

"Oh but they have," his deep voice said. "It is not simply because they rise against me, but because of their own, unrealized faults. Those faults put them in such a situation, a situation in which they must fight against their own flaws in order to survive. Thus far, unfortunately for them, they have failed, and they deserve to fail, and they will continue to fail. It is useless for them to keep fighting, to continue denying the truth. It would be easier for them to accept fate."

Yugi had had enough of hearing him talking as if he were Ra.

"Bastard," Yugi called to him, "I won't let them die! They don't deserve to die!"

He sadly attempted to run up the hill again, but the ice sent him flying right back down. Whether it was their destiny or not to die, he would never accept it. Because of this, he continued to try to climb up the hill.

"The ice will not melt until I depart. You will find no challenge here. Now is not the time, but now you know what will become of everything. You now know your fate, and you cannot stop it," Anubis laughed as the wind whipped up and the snow made the shadow disappear. The ice on the hill melted, allowing them to climb over it and continue the trail.

Yugi sat in the snow in frustration. The storm had stopped. Four deaths were already too much for him to handle. He could not let the others suffer the same tragic results. Anubis' intentions just made him envy him even more. _You have no right_, he thought to himself. _I'll not die at your hands. If God is who you are, then I'll be the first to defeat you._

Anzu and Jounouchi helped him up, and they walked along the trail. Yugi's determination and opposition of Anubis could be sensed by those who remained. Afraid he might take his rage out on them, they walked behind him. At the same time, they greatly appreciated him, for his fury was caused by what might be their destiny. It showed them just how much he had changed over time, how he had become a better, caring person, and how he would be missed when he was gone.

**_Author's Note: Once again, I apologize for the bit of delay and the crappiness of this chapter. It's really bad and uneventful I know, but that probably won't be the case for the rest. Next one will probably be late…but I have reasons for that, one obviously being summer time and I don't know where I'll be or what I'm doing. And at current time…let's just say things are definitely not easy. Can't and don't really want to talk about it, but yeah. As far as the story goes, going to try to work on the next chapter as much as possible and make it A LOT better than this one, but we'll see what happens. Well anyway, if I do not have an update for a little bit, please just know I'm still alive and I am working on it. Thanks!_**


	18. Stop the Heartbeat! Word Battle

The snowy environment became one of a calmer, honeymoon-like demeanor. Palm trees and the sound of crashing water were what became of the land beyond the snow hills. The trail had led them to a beach of rich sand and clear blue waves. The wind pushing the palm tree leaves, mixed with the waves, made it all seem so peaceful and harmless. Of course, Seto, Yugi, Jounouchi, and Anzu knew this was not so. The trail kept going on all the way down to a large beach house on shore.

A challenge was to be expected. It had been briefly discussed about who was going to fight him this time. Before Yugi could volunteer himself, Jounouchi had taken the burden. Yugi did not argue with them about it, but was becoming impatient with waiting to face his foe. To him, it was only his fight and no one else's. He did not know how much longer he would tolerate losing his friends.

They walked up the stairs to the porch of the beach house and creaked open the door. It was a one-roomed home, containing only a large family room completely lacking in items such as a table, pottery, or anything else a room such as that might have. The only lighting the room had was from the many windows. The only other thing in it was their enemy, who had been waiting for them patiently.

"I assume that you have already chosen the next challenger," he told them. Jounouchi immediately stepped forward, fearing that Yugi might again try to take his place. "Very well."

There was no need for many words between them. They had already encountered each other earlier, and needed not say anything. Seto, Yugi, and Anzu left the house and watched from the windows outside. The doors which led into the house were shut and locked, leaving only Jounouchi and Anubis inside.

"So…Jounouchi is it?" he spoke to Jounouchi softly, standing on the opposing side of the room. "You have come a long way on your quest."

Jounouchi said nothing. He only wanted to fight, not to talk. He did not want his opponent to get inside his head.

"Do not be shy about it. I know how proud everyone is of you, and how proud of yourself you are," he told him, almost trying to intimidate him. "Too bad it will be all for nothing."

"Shut up. I know you don't mean half the shit you say," Jounouchi was annoyed in waiting for the fight. "I refuse to let my quest end like this! Tell me what I have to do, and I'll do it and beat you at it!"

"Oh but most of it hardly involves you at all," Anubis laughed. "Why, the only thing you need to do is pick three duel monsters which represent you. One by one, they will face off, and the winner, best of three, will emerge victorious. All you can do is watch as they fight."

Jounouchi was upset that he really was not part of this fight. What this symbolized he could not see, but more than anything wanted to beat up on his friends' murderer. Eventually, he calmed himself a bit, and strategically picked three monsters for this fight, all three coming from his deck. Even after seeing Anubis' choices of strong monsters, Chaos Emperor Dragon, Tyrant Dragon, and Berserk Dead Dragon, he had confidence in his monsters, Android Psycho Shocker, Gilford the Lightning, and Red-Eyes Black Dragon, that they would prevail. Ready to begin, the two of them sent one of their monsters to face off. Jounouchi thought it would be better to send his weakest monster out. Therefore, his choice was Android Psycho Shocker. Anubis had a similar strategy, and sent his Berserk Dead Dragon to battle. Surprisingly, the house was able to fit all monsters nicely inside.

Soon enough, the two monsters began attacking each other. Android Psycho Shocker began with its red laser beam blasting at the bone-built dragon. The dragon flew up and dodged the attack. Quickly, its large body dove at Android, which punched it in the face and sending it back. Immediately, Android ran to tackle the dragon twice its size. The dragon, having quick reflexes, slammed it back with its thick tail, and Android was sent flying into the wall.

At that moment, Jounouchi heard his back crack, and an irritating pain covered it. Jounouchi leaned over and held it momentarily, not understanding why all of the sudden had felt immense pain.

"Oops, I forgot the minor detail," Anubis spoke to him. "Any pain your monster feels, you do as well, just like your shadow game against Malik. Can you bear it?"

Angrily, Jounouchi nodded, still holding his back.

The two monsters continued to attack one another. Android Psycho Shocker delivered a few good punches and head-butts to its foe. It was when it was grabbed from behind and held as it flew was when Android began to lose it. Flying high, the undead dragon harshly threw Android to the floor onto its back. Suffering from the pain, Android slowly began to get up, but not in time to evade the gas which burst from Dead Dragon's mouth. The gas disintegrated Android Psycho Shocker, defeating it.

His back beating on him, Jounouchi felt burning on his skin as the gas tore away Android Psycho Shocker. Still suffering from the pain, Jounouchi watched as his monster was destroyed. Berserk Dead Dragon disappeared as well, but it was victorious in its fight. Jounouchi grunted as he sent forth his next monster, Gilford the Lightning, into battle. Anubis, saying nothing but smiling, attacked with Tyrant Dragon.

This time, Anubis' monster attacked first. The magnificent dragon flew at ground level in an attempt to grasp its jaws on Gilford. The warrior used its lightning attack to momentarily paralyze it. After doing so, he ran with his large sword at it. Tyrant Dragon shook off its paralysis in time to move away from the swing. Flying fast around the room, Tyrant Dragon again flew at ground level behind Gilford and struck the warrior down with its long and wide, powerful wing. Gilford, being skilled, did not fall to the ground, but rolled to quickly get himself back on his feet. Tyrant Dragon was already on its way to attacking it, trying to tackle it, but Gilford struck it with another lightning attack.

"That's it!" Jounouchi cheered for his monster. Anubis, on the opposing end, was trying act as if he did not feel the shocks from the pain of his monster. He, too, felt everything his monster felt, just like Jounouchi, and while he tolerated it well, he could not help but gripe a bit in pain.

Gilford and Tyrant Dragon exchanged a few blows. The dinosaur-like dragon was able to deliver slashes from its claws to Gilford, but Gilford also struck back with punches and more lightning attacks. The two monsters ended up standing on opposite sides of the room, which was when the dragon decided to unleash its scorching, deadly fire attack. The dragon, using most of its strength, spit fire which covered most of the room. What it had not suspected was the power of Gilford's sword. Using it, Gilford was able to cut straight through the flames right to Tyrant Dragon. In a state of disbelief Gilford could make it through its attack, the dragon continued shooting fire as Gilford drew near. Gilford lifted the sword above his head and dealt a large slash across the dragon's tall body. The attack from Tyrant Dragon stopped as it cried in pain and disappeared, showing it had been defeated. His body still aching, Jounouchi leaped in the air in a small celebration of his monster's victory.

"Alright!" he shouted.

Outside, the remaining three were unsure as of how the battle actually worked. Viewing from the windows, they had seen the two battles between the four monsters, and saw Jounouchi flinch in pain. They worried greatly for him, and hoped that, using his growing knowledge and strength, he could be the one to defeat him and release them from this harmonic prison.

"He's only a bonkotsu," Seto sighed. Anzu slapped the back of his head.

"He is not! He's going to save us all!" Anzu said with confidence.

Yugi was not paying attention to their argument. He was caught up in the battle between his best friend and one of his greatest enemies.

Anubis could no longer hide his pain. He held the chest of his shirtless body after the delivery of the slash from Gilford the Lightning. Gilford disappeared as the two of them sent their final monsters for battle.

"Your life is in the fate of that monster. You have no control over it. All you can do is watch…" Anubis threatened to Jounouchi. Jounouchi just snorted as Red-Eyes and Chaos Emperor Dragon started their fight.

Chaos Emperor Dragon was much larger and much more powerful than Red-Eyes was, which Jounouchi knew, but he had faith in his Red-Eyes Black Dragon. It had helped him out several times before, and he felt that this was no different. Red-Eyes and Emperor Dragon flew at one another, using their long claws to scratch one another. Both attacks drew blood, and their owners both suffered the pain. The two repeated the same attacks, again doing damage. Emperor Dragon, after flying by Red-Eyes, turned around, grabbed its tail with its jaws, and threw it with its neck and mouth. Red-Eyes was sent back into the wall, but got right back up after the collision. Emperor Dragon was already on the attack, attempting to ram Red-Eyes with its hard skull. Red-Eyes leaped up as Emperor Dragon crashed head first into the wall. Red-Eyes landed atop its foe, digging its claws and teeth into its back. While it was quickly shaken off, Chaos Emperor Dragon had definitely been hurt with that attack.

"Your dragon…how does it have more strength than any other Red-Eyes?" Anubis asked him, almost accusing him of cheating.

"Red-Eyes Black Dragon has grown with me as I have grown," Jounouchi tried to explain. "We've fought together, and both have become stronger because of those fights."

Anubis laughed at his idiocy and continued watching the fight.

The two dragons stayed about even for most of the fight, each taking hit after hit. Finally, when both had punched one another away from each other, the two decided to unleash their arsenal attack. Red-Eyes blasted its narrow yet obscenely powerful fire beam as Emperor Dragon blasted a beam of light energy. The two attacks were opposite each other, Red-Eyes' attack being below Chaos Emperor Dragon's. Both attacks connected to the heart of its opponent, and both beasts were destroyed.

Recovering from the pain of the last battle, Anubis and Jounouchi realized they were at a stalemate.

"What now?" Jounouchi asked him. "We tied."

Anubis laughed, almost hoping it would come to a situation such as this.

"It comes to a battle between you and I, a battle of words," he said.

Jounouchi raised an eyebrow.

"It is not so difficult. We exchange what you could call insults, and anything you are sensitive to causes damage to your body. When you cannot take anymore, your heart will fail, and you will die," he explained further. Jounouchi understood now.

Back outside, the group was able to hear what had been explained to Jounouchi. They now had reason to worry. Jounouchi reacted to many things, even things that were not necessarily of his concern. If Anubis knew his history, he could do much damage to Jounouchi, and quite easily.

"Shall I begin?" Anubis suggested he start things off. "As I know it, you have a sister, do you not? Shizuka is her name?"

Jounouchi was already reacting to the subject. That is when he felt his strength being sapped from him. He felt his muscles weaken, and even standing began to hurt. The pain he had inherited from the battles with the monsters was being added onto what he was taking now.

"And she almost went blind," he continued. "Her eyesight, well let us just say it sucked. The damage to her eyes was almost irreparable, and it must have burnt, like being sprayed in the eyes with some kind of liquid. Worst yet, the surgery was beyond expenses. She could not afford it. How horrible that must have been. Lucky for her, she had you, or she would see nothing but black. Of course, she was nothing but a pussy with or without her sight. All she did was cry and coward in fear."

Jounouchi did not like it when someone spoke of her sister like that. He was infuriated that a stranger would talk such things of her. This only caused more pain to him, and he lost his strength to stand. He fell to the ground, clenched his fists as his opponent stood with what looked like hardly any damage.

"Such a stupid fool she was," he was going to continue, but Jounouchi knew he had to cut him off.

"A stupid fool?" he began. "What about you, Mr. I-hate-the-world-because-my-past-sucked? You could have made something of yourself, especially with the powers you had, but you didn't! The only thing you did was mope around, feeling sorry for yourself, continuing to take the abuse which you could have prevented! And you dare call my sister a coward? You made this place to hide away from the world, to get away from your fears! Even if my sister had gone blind, she would never be blind to what she cared about, or what was important to her, unlike you! You gave up on your dream because you thought it was unreachable, which was far from the truth! So do you think you're really that much better than my sister, just because you call yourself a God? Face it. You're nothing but a no-good, reborn reject!"

Jounouchi had picked the right spot to attack. Anubis definitely felt resentment towards Jounouchi's statement, which resulted into taking damage. He too lost strength in himself, and his muscles ached. He was brought to his knees, but was able to stand back up.

"And what about you?" he began to make another comment. "What about you and your cowardice acts? Your sister would have never been saved had it not been for your companions. They helped you in ways unimaginable, and it is because of them you have overcome so much. Without Yugi, without Anzu, without Honda, even Kaiba, what would become of your sister's sight without them? You relied on them so much to pull you through, even though you were determined to prove otherwise. Both of us know you failed to prove that. Your friends pulled you through, and eventually were the key to saving your sister. What would you be without them? Nothing. The only thing you did for them was give them the gratitude of feeling of importance! Without that gratitude and without each other, they are just like you: nothing."

Any comment directed towards his friends, Jounouchi could not help but feel anger. In this case, that was bad. Jounouchi felt his bones crack, muscles and insides rip, and many of his muscles no longer active. Even breathing caused pain to him, and he could no longer see straight. Eventually, blood dripped from Jounouchi's mouth.

From the outside, the group was pounding on the windows, trying to get it to stop. The pounds on the unbreakable glass could not be heard, nor could their screams. Yugi went to the nearest door and began trying to break it down. Soon enough, Anzu and Kaiba joined him in his attempt. They rammed it quite hard, and the door did not even suffer a crack or budge.

"Asshole…" Jounouchi could only silently whisper.

Lying on the ground, hardly able to do anything, Jounouchi was helpless. Speaking was difficult, seeing how almost all his muscles had been disabled. He wanted to crawl to Anubis and beat him up, but he could not walk let alone crawl. Jounouchi was in trouble.

"You put yourself in situations that are not yours to be in," he told him. "You take things far too personally and thus become enraged. What happens when that rage becomes uncontrollable? Nothing good can become of you for that reason. Your rage is too dangerous, and since you put yourself in situations to your liking, many could be hurt by your anger. On your own, you are such a worthless piece of shit."

Jounouchi tried not to take that comment to a personal level, but he couldn't help it. When he growled in his anger, he felt a sharp pain in his heart. He heard a sound of spilling blood from inside his body, and then nothing. His head, which he had held up, fell to rest on the floor, and did not move.

Anzu looked in from the window, and saw Jounouchi not moving. She pounded on the window, trying to call to Jounouchi to get up. Tears ran down her face as she continued screaming to him. She waited a few minutes before she concluded that Jounouchi was not going to get up on his own. She looked at him once more, and saw he was not breathing and not moving at all. His eyes were shut tight, and blood ran from his mouth. She had the feeling that Jounouchi, like the others before him, had lost.

"Jounouchi…please get up," she gave a final pound on the window before stumbling to her knees.

Yugi and Kaiba stopped ramming the door. Yugi breathed heavily as he leaned against the door, crying for his friend. Kaiba only stared at the ground, as he too was emotional about Jounouchi's death.

"You, too…Bonkotsu," he said to himself. "And you came so far. How does it all go to waste like this? It can't."

Having nothing left, the group left the beach house and beach. To them, anything beautiful like that beach became a wasteland of haunting memories and tragic events.


	19. Obstacles on Center Stage

With the loss of Jounouchi, the once strong of seven (or six) group became a trio. They alone were the only ones that could take him down, they knew, and that only put more pressure on them to succeed. They were depended on to win, but that made them feel good only to a certain extent. The thought of possible failure and tragic let down was always on their minds. It was unbearable to think about, because they didn't want to lose these games. They couldn't lose, or everything they and everyone else had done would be lost.

Following the trail, on this night they would approach a small, empty town. The town contained a few stores and restaurants, but also a motel. Seeing how nobody was available to check them into a room, the three of them made themselves at home in one of the rooms, using the pullout bed in the couch of the room as the third bed. In their room, more food and beverages were served to them, and they would again get the night for rest.

While eating, the group discussed of Anubis' twisted games. They were trying to create some kind of strategy or expectation for the next day. With so few of them left, it seemed necessary.

"Each of these games is specifically designed for a specific person," Yugi told them. "It's as if he knows already who he is going to face. Even the setting of these games seems preplanned."

"I agree," said Seto. "If that be the case though, what is the point of making a plan?"

"Well first, let's pick who is going to face him first in the morning," Anzu suggested. "I'm volunteering."

Seto and Yugi gave her a strange look.

"You?" Seto questioned her volunteering. "Sorry to admit this, but of the remaining three of us, you're the weakest."

"I know that," she admitted, "but that doesn't mean my chances are any worse than either of you. It's like Yugi said: these games are designated for a specific person, which are intended for a person to automatically have a losing fate anyway. Whatever the challenge may be, I'm willing to take it and do my best. "

Yugi and Seto were silent.

"Plus, then we can save the strongest two for last," Anzu said, pretty much complimenting them. "If I fail, then I know that there are two more chances left, chances that are definitely worth taking."

Seto would not argue with her anymore.

"Alright then, Anzu. Tomorrow morning is your fight," he said to her. "I wish you the best of luck."

There was no sarcasm in his tone.

"You have to be careful, Anzu. Try to think of what he might use against you, and find ways to overcome it," Yugi gave her the best advice he could, and Anzu took it.

During the night, sleep for everyone was minimal. Yugi did not even toss and turn, just lied on his back and gazed at the ceiling, thinking about how this would all turn out, and worrying for Anzu. Seto lied on his side, staring at the wall. He worried about his brother, and how he was doing in the other world. He could also not help but have concern for the situation he was in. He believed that this guy could be beaten, but the only possibility was to beat him at one of his games. Anzu was the only one to get any bit of sleep that night, trying to be readied up for her challenge the next day.

The night was long, but morning finally came. Breakfast was given to them outside. They ate quickly and headed off to their next destination. The trail did not lead them far from the motel. It led them to the center of the town, which contained a small theatre, specifically a dance theatre. Knowing that Anzu was the only one interested in dance, they knew that Anubis knew that she would be the next one to fight. They were not bothered by his knowledge and continued into the theatre.

While being a reasonably small theatre, it was quite fancy. The chairs for those in the audience were wide and soft, making it comfortable. The theatre seemed so much larger on the inside, especially while looking at the stage. The stage was huge, being quite long and wide for its performers. On the stage was just the person they were looking for. Seto and Yugi looked at Anzu, who seemed prepared for whatever she may have to do. She walked up onto the stage alone, and Yugi and Seto took a seat in the crowd.

"Welcome, my fair lady," he said to her. Anzu did not take his comment as a compliment. "It is such a shame that a female must take the fall."

Anzu stayed away from him, not wanting to imagine what he might do to her.

"You killed my friends," she murmured. "I do feel bad for what you had to go through, but for what you did to everyone else I can't forgive you."

Anubis turned away.

"Whatever you say, darling," he giggled. "Shall we begin?"

Anzu nodded.

Rising from the stage's floor were two narrow paths of burning coal and ash. On the far end of both of these paths was a small stoned stand. On this stand was a key suited to fit the hole in the wall on the opposite end of the stand, the wall which they would start at. Anzu could not help but be a bit frightened by the path of heat.

"It is a short, simple task," he began to explain. "We start at the end we are on now, bear foot. We must walk across the path of fire and retrieve the key. On this path, we will encounter several, randomly, unpicked obstacles which will distract us from reaching the other end. Once the key has been gotten, we must run back to the other end, fighting more obstacles, some the same and some different, and place the key in the hole, which will activate a final weapon that comes out of the wall to kill our opponent. Now I understand the concept of men athletes being superior to women simply because of genetics, in which my course will have twice as many obstacles as yours."

The challenge was not difficult to understand. Anzu was hoping to find a way to avoid the path altogether.

"There is no escape from the path once you begin. You are trapped inside. There will be no interference from anyone else here or against one another," he told her. Anzu walked up to the trail from the side and felt more invisible walls blocking her way. She cursed under her breath.

Seto and Yugi sat at the edge of their seats. Besides dancing, Anzu was not the most physically coordinated person. While it required hardly any strength, it did require enough to give Anzu a hard time. This made the two of them nervous, unsure if Anzu could handle it.

It was about to begin. Anzu removed her shoes and her and Anubis stepped onto the trail of heat. On the balls of their feet, they could feel the heat boil the skin away. Anzu made her pain obvious, her facial expressions being those of physical hurt. She tried to use this as motivation to get through the maze faster, though that was not too reassuring.

"Wait for the bell," he told her.

Anzu tried not look like her feet were on burning. She looked straight ahead to the other end of the stage, where the key laid on the stone stand. She knew that was her only way save everyone, including herself, from harm. Remembering what was at stake, her level of focus became higher.

The bell rang, and the two immediately headed off. Anzu looked to her left, even though she knew it would slow her down. Obstacles were beginning to attack Anubis already, while she was still running on the flaming ground without anything in her way. Continuing on, she encountered her first obstacle not much longer later. A stone wall rose from the ground quickly, and Anzu ran right into it. She wobbled back a little bit, losing her footing and stopping her running, but she did not fall. She waited for the wall to go back under the stage before proceeding forward. That collision had slowed her a bit, and Anubis had already made himself even with her.

Yugi and Kaiba, watching from afar, knew that this was only the beginning of a difficult travel for her.

A few steps later, Anzu encountered another one. Some needles were sticking out of the ground. Noticing them, Anzu decided to jump over them. Unfortunately, her jump was high and rather slow. The needles from the ground shot up, and Anzu did not jump across in time for them to miss. A few ended up getting stuck in her foot, and one in her left hand. She landed on her heels to not push in further the needles into her foot. Thinking she would not be able to run far without pulling them out, Anzu stopped and painfully removed the needles from her already heated feet. Again, this killed a little too much time, and Anubis started getting further ahead.

"Pull your head out of your ass, girl," Kaiba mumbled to himself. Yugi couldn't help but agree. Anzu was not doing this smartly.

After falling again for the next obstacle, Anzu began to realize how far behind she was becoming. Anubis was mere feet away from getting the key, and she was barely halfway across the stage. She knew that she had to do better than what she was. She lifted herself up and made an incredible run. She succeeded everything that she came across, including more needles, a moving ground, and whips coming up out of the stage below. Anzu had finally begun to gain confidence and move smoothly and think quickly as she made her way down the narrow passage.

Eventually, she reached her key, and she grabbed it and began to run back. Anubis, who was a bit ahead, had been tied up on some whips that had lashed out from the ground at him. It was her chance to take back the lead. Anzu took the next few obstacles ahead of her just as she had taken the previous few: smart and smoothly. Her feet, with the skin on the bottom now boiling, hardly bothered her as she moved. Somehow, she found herself with a small lead. Breathing heavily, she looked back to see Anubis holding himself up on the invisible walls. She could not help but smile, knowing that she was beating him and perhaps on her way to saving her friends.

She was too caught up with her opponent's struggle that she forgot to focus on what was up coming. Another stone wall had risen, and Anzu had not seen it because she was not paying attention. She ran head first into the wall, and ended up falling back onto the blazing ground. The ash and coal burnt through her clothing and right onto the skin of her back. Feeling this, Anzu quickly got back on her feet. Her arms and back now felt the same burns of her feet, only less severe, and her head had the worst ache she had ever had, to the point where it was a distraction. Anzu's respectable lead was lost now. Anubis had made it through a couple obstacles without harm, and now he had caught her. The two of them continued to fight through obstacles, but Anzu had slowed down drastically. After that devastating hit into the wall, her headache bothered her so. Adding that to every other pain she had, she could no longer keep a fast pace. Luckily, having a bigger body, Anubis had a harder time dodging and getting through his many more obstacles, giving Anzu a slight edge.

It came down to the final small stretch across the stage. Anzu was so exhausted and hurt that she wasn't even running anymore. In the final stretch, Anubis encountered his final obstacle, thick sticks coming straight up and hard from the ground. As he stepped over them, one of the sticks hit him right between the legs, and as any normal male would probably do, he stopped and howled in pain. Anzu heard this, and she made one last attempt to run and put her key in the hole, despite the pain in her feet and body. She again had forgotten about her final obstacle, which was a simple rising of a small portion of the ground. Not paying attention, she ended up tripping on the edge of the risen ground, falling forward back onto the coal and ash. This again burnt her, and slowly she rose to relieve herself of the burn. Since her fall, Anubis had stopped howling about his crotch and finished the passage, putting his key in the hole. The wall of the stage that Anzu was facing began to open, revealing several, sharp spears behind it, pointing in her direction.

"You are nowhere without the support of others," Anubis told her, catching his breath. "You use them to hold yourself together; to hold yourself up. When they are not there to help you, you are doomed, for you cannot support yourself for long. A wall with no support is bound to easily fall when attacked. And now, I will watch you crumble."

The spears in the wall shot out. Anzu knew there was no running and no way to escape. Several spears entered her as she stood and took the attacks, knowing that she had lost and now faced the only consequence: death.

"Anzu!" Yugi yelled. He tried to run on stage, but another invisible wall blocked the entrance. He pounded on it, but couldn't break through.

Even if he had gotten on stage, it wouldn't have mattered. Much of Anzu had been pumped full of spears, one which had gone through her head between the eyes. She was already dead.

Kaiba had to pull Yugi out of the theatre. It was not that he felt no remorse, more so he knew what needed to be done. He would not slow himself down by mourning. He had to concentrate, for he felt that he would have to be next. Still, a bit of fear ran through his mind.

After Seto and Yugi had left the theatre, Anubis left the narrow passage, his mission complete. He did not know he had made it so hard for himself. The fact that he could have lost this one did not bother him though. Five of them were already dead, two remained. On the stage in front of an empty crowd, he laughed in superiority, in confidence, in victory.


	20. Duel of Light

The final two walked together down the trail away from the little town. The town was no longer in sight as Seto and Yugi walked quietly on the trail. Having lost most of his friends, Yugi was quite saddened by the situation. He could not bear the fact that they were dead, and he had witnessed them all fall. With every person lost, he seemed to feel emptier inside, as if going on without a purpose. Seto on the other hand was much calmer, and hadn't let such tragedy get to him. He knew that if he did, it would hurt him from getting done what needed to be done.

Randomly as the two were walking, Yugi stopped in the middle of the path and fell to his knees. He stared at the ground, trying to hold back the tears from falling. He had Kaiba left, but nothing else. Seto turned around and watched in frustration as his companion sobbed.

"Only one left," Yugi mumbled to himself. "How will I go on...if…?"

Annoyed, Seto stood in front of him and kicked him in the face. Yugi fell back and stared sadly at Kaiba, unsure why he was just kicked.

"You," Kaiba began, "shut up! You can shed as many tears as you want, but that won't change anything that happened! Only bloodshed will! Don't you see? There can never be an easy way! Suffering is always involved, but those who break through that suffering are bound to be victorious. Now be a man and stop with this nonsense!"

Yugi sat on the ground, still recovering from the kick. He was aware however that Kaiba was right. He was letting Anubis get to his mind, and it was affecting him greatly. Yugi remembered his vow to his partner; how he promised to avenge him. In order to keep that, he knew that he had to heed Kaiba's words and not get distracted. Eventually, he picked himself up from the ground, and he and Seto continued on.

The path led them from the little town to the big city. With buildings tall enough to reach the sky, it lacked the commotion and traffic a normal city had. This made it easier to admire the beauty of the tall buildings. The air and environment was as clean as it had been elsewhere, making it even more perfect.

Walking through the streets of the city, Seto and Yugi saw a billboard. Rather than an advertisement painted or stuck onto it, hieroglyphics that they had seen before was on the front. This time, three more of them had been crossed out with a red X. The medium sized figure with the head of a dog, the figure with the friendly yet dark face, and the one with which stood on the shoulders of two of them, were now marked off. Only two did not contain the red X.

Remaining on the path, they were brought to the center of the city, which contained a dome. It looked like the same Dueling Dome that had been in Domino, where they first encountered Anubis. Both had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen, but were confused as of why he'd choose to battle them at something they were both quite skilled at. Yugi hoped it would be a handicap duel, as he had fought before alongside Kaiba.

"What was once a strong group of seven as collapsed into a weak duo," Anubis laughed at their lack of numbers.

Neither Yugi nor Kaiba responded.

"One more shall go, and then it will all be even," he told them. "Who will it be now?"

Yugi had gotten used to not walking ahead when at this point. He glanced over at Kaiba, whose eyes, staring back into Yugi's, indicated that he would take upon the next challenge. Yugi made no effort to stop him. Kaiba stepped forward.

"I will," Seto said with a bold voice.

Yugi went to take a seat in the audience. It had almost become a routine for him to leave once the challenger was decided. He was able to relax a bit more this time around, knowing that Kaiba was an excellent duelist.

_You can beat him_, he thought to himself. _Save us._

Seto and Anubis faced towards each other. Seto could only give him a cold stare while Anubis seemed to give him a friendly welcome.

"So," Anubis began, "my little pawn, how have you been?"

Seto snarled at him. He remembered too well how he had been tricked last time.

"Don't take me for some kind of a fool," he said.

"But I cannot help it. Your selfishly corrupted mind is just too tempting to not toy with," he gave an evil giggle. "Oh it is people like you that I just love to kill."

Kaiba started laughing.

"You know, I've grown tired of your 'I hate the goddamn world' crap," he told him. "You can just skip over it and go straight to the part where I start kicking your ass."

Anubis' laughter immediately stopped, almost insulted.

"Have it your way. If you wish death upon you sooner, then that is your choice," he began. "This game should be easy for you, for this game…is duel monsters."

Kaiba was a bit shocked as a duel disk appeared on his left wrist, along with a deck of cards in the appropriate slot. He walked to the other side of the field.

"Seto," he yelled, "You and I are going to have a duel! A shadow duel! You are familiar with such games, I know. The loser goes straight to Hell!"

Seto couldn't help but grin. Dueling was a strong point of his, and had great confidence in victory. He held out his left wrist and allowed the portable duel disk to set itself up, as did Anubis.

"Duel!" the two of them yelled.

Both players drew five cards. Their life points were set at 4000, and the duel was underway. Anubis took the first turn. He drew one card from the top of his deck.

"I summon Ogre of the Black Shadow (1200/1400) in defense mode," he told Seto. A large image of a horned, dark red monster stood on his side of the field, kneeling on one knee and holding its two muscular arms across its chest. "Turn end!"

Kaiba laughed, thinking he could come up with a much better first move than playing cowardly a monster in defense mode. He drew a card to begin his turn.

"I will summon Devil Dragon (1500/1200) in attack mode," he said. "Attack his Ogre now!"

The long dark purple dragon appeared on the field. Glaring its yellow eyes at its target, it shot a burst of white flames at it. The beast in defense mode was then destroyed.

"Your Life Points are safe now, but not the next time," Kaiba threatened. "I will place one card face down. Turn end!"

Anubis drew again. He had no worries about this duel, no matter how bad of a situation he could get in.

"I summon Dark Blade (1800/1500). Attack now!" he declared.

"Ha! Reveal magic card: Dragon Nails!" Seto surprised him.

His monster was then equipped with a set of glove like covers on its hands containing deathly sharp claws. Better yet, it increased its attack to 2200, which was more than high enough to destroy Dark Blade. The dragon slashed the warrior as it came, and Dark Blade was destroyed. Anubis' life points were lowered to 3600.  
"You're going to have to do better than that," Seto told him.

"This is only the beginning. One card faced down, and my turn is done," he said, trying to keep a straight face.

Seto drew again. He drew nothing of use to him at the time, but saw his opponent wide open for a direct attack. Without hesitation, he sent his dragon to attack him directly. Anubis had been prepared for such an event. His face down card, Wall of Darkness, prevented a direct attack on him for that turn. Seto knew his opponent had gotten lucky, and ended his turn.

Turn back to Anubis. He had drawn the card he needed.

"First, I will summon Gargoyle Powered (1600/1200)," he began. A red, wide yet short beast was now on his side of the field. "And I will now use De-Spell, stripping your Devil Dragon of its power up! Its attack returns to normal now. Attack!"

With its attack points back to 1500, Gargoyle Powered was able to strike down the dragon. Devil Dragon was tackled and destroyed, and Kaiba's life points were down to 3900. As Kaiba lost life points, he felt a sharp pain in his gut. He merely grunted it off, assuming it to be nothing.

"I will place one card face down. Turn end!" he said.

Seto drew.

"Luster Dragon (1900/1600) in attack mode!" he had drawn a strong, four starred monster. A sapphire dragon with no wings appeared. "Attack and destroy his Gargoyle!"

The dragon spat a blue flame and Anubis' monster was destroyed. Anubis now had 3300 life points.

"I hope that all of your cards in your deck aren't this shitty," Kaiba mocked him as he ended his turn.

Though he was down and in a bit of pain, Anubis still did not drop sweat of concern. He calmly drew his card and prepared for his next move.

"I will use this: Commencement Dance! By sacrificing two monsters from my hand, I can summon the monster Performance of Sword (1950/1850)," Anubis made his move. Two monsters from his hand were sacrificed and a red headed lady containing blades on her arms appeared on the field. "Attack his Luster Dragon!"

The woman slashed her atrociously sharp blades at the dragon. The blue dragon was chopped to three pieces and then it was destroyed. Kaiba lost a small 50 life points from the attack.

"One card faced down will end my turn," he said.

"Draw!" Seto began his next turn. "I will sacrifice a monster from my hand and summon Luster Dragon #2 (2400/1400)."

He put one monster in his graveyard as the large, beautiful green dragon appeared on the field. This was among the better six starred monsters in his deck.

"Attack now!" he demanded of his dragon.

"Reveal trap: Reinforcements!" Anubis declared a counter.

The trap allowed his monster to gain an additional 500 attack points for this turn, making Performance of Sword 2450 attack points strong. With it powered up, the female warrior cut straight through Luster Dragon's beam and struck it down. The dragon's head fell off as it disappeared, being defeated. Kaiba's Life Points still stood tall at 3800.

"Only a loss of 200 life points…how pathetic. I've seen amateurs do better than you," Seto tried to put him down, but obviously it didn't work.

"It is all in the matter of slowly bringing you down," Anubis said. "Tell me, why do you defy me? Why do you even bother defending people such as him? He is nothing but a scoundrel guilty of acts of injustice."

He pointed to Yugi in the stands. Yugi stood up in anger.

"And you think everything you've done is for righteousness and goodness?" Kaiba laughed. "Idiot, we're all guilty of something, so what makes you think you're the only one that's sin free?"

"There are some things that cannot be forgiven or forgotten," he told him. "For all those things, only severe punishment can make up for them. For you and the rest of them for that matter, that punishment is death and suffering."

"Behind every act are reason, emotion, and an amount of equality. Reason is the motivation why the act was done, emotion is the will and desire of doing it, and the amount of equality is what is gained or lost as a result. It is not necessarily for the one person, but to anyone it may effect. If you have no motive behind these acts, then you have no reason to go through with it. If you lack emotions or your emotions control you, then your act will go out of control. If the losses outweigh the gain, then it is pointless to do it. For you, you incompetent fool, your emotion, your hate, makes your action an unnecessary failure," Seto explained to him.

He stopped talking for a moment. He remembered having a similar conversation with Yugi after losing to him at Battle City, he being the victim of such an argument. The word hatred ran through his mind.

"Hatred," he began, "will only drag you down. You can't accomplish anything running on hate and anger. It's the monster that must be defeated first. When that happens, the road…to a better future will open."

Yugi smiled at Kaiba's comments. _So you did listen to me, Kaiba-kun_.

Anubis had opposite feelings towards that.

"A fire cannot start on its own," he argued back. "It needs a spark to get it started. Once it begins, it can grow even larger to a point that it may be unstoppable. It just needs the right material. That material is hatred. That hatred keeps it burning strong, and only until I become old and die will it be put out."

Kaiba looked away, smiling.

"I'll be the water to put you out," he promised him. "I'm not going to let you burn everything that is on your path, because it doesn't deserve to be turned to ash."

"You are nothing more than dry grass to set aflame. You will burn, too, just like everyone else has," Anubis assured him right back.

"Shut up and duel. It's your turn."

Anubis drew a card to begin.

"Kojikocy (1500/1200) in attack mode!" he summoned a short warrior with a large beard. "I have two monsters on the field, and you nothing. You're open for a direct attack. Just to add on to your humiliation, I will add this: Invigoration, a magic card to increase all Earth monsters' attack by 400 and their defense by 200. Both of my creatures are that of Earth, so now they will be boosted to 2350/2050 and 1900/1400 respectfully. Attack!"

He knew Seto wouldn't let him win so easily, so he was unsurprised as Kaiba revealed his trap card, Earthquake, to change all monsters into defense mode.

"Avoiding death, are we?" he asked of him. "Turn end!"

"My turn! Draw!" Seto declared as he drew another card. It was a fine, four starred monster. "Spear Dragon (1900/0) in attack mode! Destroy his Kojikocy!"

A pterodactyl looking dragon appeared on the field. It flew high in the air then dove straight into Kojikocy's chest with its sharp, beak-like mouth. The warrior, holding a short sword, disappeared after coming in contact with the flying dragon. Because it was in defense mode, Anubis' life points were safe for now.

"Spear Dragon is shifted to defense mode after it attacks with its ability," Kaiba stated as his dragon landed on the ground and put its two wings in front of its body. "I will place one card face down and end my turn."

With Kaiba's turn at an end, Anubis' turn began. He drew just the card he had been waiting for, one which would likely give him full advantage.

"Gods' Forsaken Tomb!" he played the card.

Seto was stunned as a large almost black pyramid surrounded them. He recalled this card. He had used it on Yugi to destroy the God Cards. Even though that was one of its effects, Seto knew there was another effect, one which he could not use because he did not have the appropriate cards. Anubis however, did. The pyramid surrounded the field, turning everything dark. Inside the pyramid, Seto could hardly see, his eyes adjusting to the little lighting in the room.

From the outside, Yugi was blind to the duel inside Gods' Forsaken Tomb. He knew that there was no way to get inside of it, or to break it open. Only Seto could deactivate it. Impatiently, Yugi sat, wishing there was some way he could see how the rest of the duel played out. He hoped Seto could break through the darkness and emerge victorious in the duel of life and death, possibly the most important duel for him and everyone else.

Back inside the pyramid, Seto and Anubis were completely surrounded in darkness. Kaiba asked no questions, because he knew what was going on, but he had the feeling that everything had just turned against him. Still, he would duel on.

"You are trapped in my game now, Seto," he threatened him. "This will be your first glimpse of Hell!"

"Keep in mind that I'm still beating you. This card doesn't change anything," Seto said.

"Oh but does change things, and not for the better of you," he told him. "Now I control this game. Watch as I play this: Ritual Weapon! This card allows a six starred or lower, ritually summoned monster to gain 1500 attack points. Now my Performance of Sword, which had 2350 attack points after Invigoration, has 3850 attack points."

What was only a fairly decent card was now a monster with a whopping amount of attack points which almost all of Kaiba's monsters could not stand up to. Kaiba began to worry.

"Attack his Spear Dragon, my lady warrior!" Anubis demanded of his monster.

Using her blades on her arms, she slashed and cut the dragon up easily. Spear Dragon, luckily being in defense mode, was destroyed.

"Seto Kaiba!" he called his name. Being so dark inside, Seto could hardly see his opponent across the field. "You battle well, but can you navigate yourself through the darkness? We shall have to see."

The duel had hardly gotten underway. Seto still had his best cards to play, and his best moves to make. Only now he had another challenge in his way: pitch black.

_**Author's Note: Alright so I'm not too hot at writing duels (Elizabeth, don't reply to that). A warning now that some of the card effects and rules have been bended a bit, as some of you skilled duelists will probably notice. An example being this: trap cards have to be on the field for a turn before they can be activated (I think the anime bends that rule sometimes, too, either that or they change trap cards to magic cards). Just made sure you knew. Also, I generally try to stick with the names of the cards in Japanese, but some of them I simply do not know, so I use the English names. Sorry if that confuses you.**_

_**Sorry this was late. I actually had most of this done last week, but I was unable to finish it before I went to Kentucky, a trip that lasted for five days. The next one will hopefully be out soon, or at least won't be as delayed as the last one, because you just don't know how this duel's going to turn out! evil grin**_


	21. Relive the Horrible Ending

The duel continued on. The score was at 3800 life points to 3300, Kaiba having the upper hand life points wise. However, with Gods' Forsaken Tomb on the field, Seto was in a bit of trouble. With this card on the field, Anubis could summon some of his most powerful monsters without sacrifice. The fact that it made everything so hard to see did not help.

_I've never been afraid of the dark before, even as a kid,_ he thought to himself. _Why do I have fear now?_

It was Kaiba's turn. He was face to face with a monster that now had 3850 attack points. Even a single Blue-Eyes White Dragon, having two of them in his hand, could not beat the warrior. Kaiba thought about how to weaken the monster. Knowing that the only reason its attack power was so high was because of power up magic and spell cards, Kaiba had cards in his deck that could deactivate those cards. There was one card that he was specifically was thinking about, and knew he had to draw it. He would worry about Gods' Forsaken Tomb later.

Seto drew. He had gotten the right card.

"Watch this," Seto began his turn. "First I shall use Godsend to let us draw until we have six cards!" he played his spell card. He and Anubis drew until they both held six. "Next, I will sacrifice one monster from my hand to summon Judge Man (2200/1500)."

A muscular, old man looking monster with a beard appeared on the field. It had two large wrists with bands on them used for clobbering its enemy. Judge Man was powerful, but stood no chance against Anubis' Performance of Sword.

"Finally, to destroy your sword dancer, I will use Reverse Trap!" he exclaimed. "Now all cards used to power up attack and defense are reversed! That means now your Performance of Sword only gains 200 attack points and its defense gains 1700 defense points! It only has 2150 attack points now, making it weaker than my Judge Man! Now, Judge Man, destroy his Performance of Sword!"

The monster leaped high in the air and pounded his wrists down onto Performance of Sword. The monster fell to the ground and was destroyed. Anubis growled as he lost a small 50 life points.

"Turn end!" Seto explained. He looked at his hand and was quite satisfied with what he saw.

"Draw!" Anubis drew a card to begin his turn. He looked at it and smiled. One of his great beasts would now fight with him. "Andro Sphinx (2500/3000) in attack mode! I am sure you are aware of the ability of Gods' Forsaken Tomb."

A large, dog headed yet lion bodied beast was now on Anubis' side of the field. It was a monster Seto was hoping to avoid. He knew that he would probably have to face it as long as Gods' Forsaken Tomb was on the field, but he was hoping he could find away to avoid it and destroy the trap before he could summon at least one of those sphinxes.

"Attack his Judge Man!" he ordered.

The large, for legged beast jumped onto Judge Man, who was then destroyed. Kaiba felt an irritating pain his chest as he lost 300 life points.

"It is the beginning of your fall. Every turn, you will lose more and more life points, and as a result, life," he explained to him. Kaiba was aware of the consequences. "I place a card face down. Turn end!"

Kaiba drew from his deck. He looked at the perfect, much needed spell card he had hoped to get.

"I will place Lord of Dragons (1200/1100) in defense mode!" he began. "Next, I will use Flute of Summoning Dragons to summon two dragons from my hand to the field."

A warrior, dressed in a dragon skull cape, was put on the field, holding a flute instrument shaped like a dragon head. Lord of Dragons blew in it, and a glorious horn sounded off. Right after the sound died, two Blue-Eyes White Dragons (3000/2500) were now on the field. The flute disappeared.

"Now I have two of my greatest dragons on the field. Attack!" he declared.

The two beautiful dragons, though ordered to attack, did not move. Kaiba wondered why, but then he heard an annoying screech. It was the work of Anubis' trap, Command Silencer. Kaiba's attack commands were denied, and his battle phase ended. Kaiba set a card face down and ended his turn.

In Anubis' next turn, he drew his second beast.

"Sphinx Teleia (3000/2500) in attack mode! Attack his Lord of Dragons!" he declared.

Another beast with a large cat like body yet female head with fangs appeared. The swift beast drew its claws out and swiped at Lord of Dragons, who was destroyed instantly. Kaiba knew of its special affect, being able to deduct the amount of life points as half of the destroyed monster's attack points when in defense position. He suffered a loss of 700 life points and more excruciating pain. His muscles grew weaker, his heart beat faster. A drop of sweat dropped down Kaiba's forehead.

"I will place two cards face down and end my turn," he stated. "The tables have turned. I now have the lead, and you suffer."

Seto said nothing. He drew a card to begin his turn.

"Blue-Eyes, attack his Andro Sphinx now!" he ordered.

One of his Blue-Eyes charged up its attack and a burst of energy shot from its mouth. It was a move that was expected. Anubis revealed his trap card, Holy Barrier Mirror Force, to deflect the attack. Luckily, Seto's face down card, Negate Attack, stopped the attack from hitting his Blue-Eyes.

"Attack again, I dare you!" Anubis tempted him. Seto did not want to risk his two dragons, so he chose to find another option.

"Turn end! You will not destroy my Blue-Eyes White Dragon, only feel its wrath and power," he said.

Anubis just laughed in disbelief as he drew to begin his next turn. He laughed even harder knowing he had just fooled Seto.

"First I will shift both of my beasts to defense mode," he said as the two beasts knelt in defense mode. "Next I will activate my face down trap card: Just Deserts. Now you lose 500 life points for each monster on your side of the field."

A hand reached out towards Kaiba and grabbed him around his neck. Electricity flew from it and gave Kaiba the biggest shock he had ever felt. Smoke rose from his body after the attack was complete and Kaiba fell to one knee. He was down to 1800 life points, realizing he was losing life points more frequently.

"Your precious Blue-Eyes are only hurting you. Do you wish to continue to hurt just to keep them alive?" Anubis asked of him. He placed a card face down and ended his turn.

Weakly, Seto drew a card. He looked at it and managed to pull of a smile.

"I will bring to you my ultimate beast: Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3000)!" he said.

He held up his Polymerization magic card and the final Blue-Eyes White Dragon in his hand. The three Blue-Eyes came together and merged. What was left was a large, white dragon with three heads.

"Attack his Sphinx Teleia!" he chose randomly one to attack.

The three heads charged up one ball of energy, and its immense power shot out at Sphinx Teleia. The female headed beast squealed and was destroyed.

"Fear it, my Ultimate Dragon!" Kaiba yelled. His confidence had risen after getting his most powerful creature on the field. "Turn end."

Anubis was not worried. He drew his card.

"You should have thought more carefully which one you destroyed," he laughed. "You destroyed the one with the weaker defense, and now you will regret it. First, I will activate the trap card, Castle Walls, raising my beast's defense to 3500."

Seto just laughed.

"Now I will use Sword in Right Hand, Shield in Left!" he called out. Seto recognized it as one of Jounouchi's card. He growled as his dragon's attack points were now 3000. "And finally, I shift Andro Sphinx to attack mode."

Seto knew what was coming now. His magnificent beast, his hope for winning, was about to be destroyed.

"Attack!" he cried. "Kill Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

The beast, although significantly smaller, tackled Kaiba's dragon with ease. It bit down on the neck of the middle head, and the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon was destroyed. Kaiba remained with only 1300 life points, and found out he could barely stand. He suddenly grew an enormous headache and his sight became blurry in an already hard to see area. He tried to shake it off, but it wouldn't work. The pain that ached all over his body stayed.

On the outside, Yugi felt as if something terrible had happened. His instinct told him Kaiba was losing the duel, and what he was feeling was his pain. Yugi finally began to worry, knowing that he would be the last one if Kaiba was defeated. He felt that once everyone was gone, he could not fight anymore. So he shut his eyes, hoping that somehow, Kaiba could turn things around.

Inside, Anubis stood tall over a stumbling Seto.

"Do you still look down on me as a duelist?" he asked Kaiba as he ended his turn, proud of what he had done. He still had 3250 life points.

Kaiba was in a jam. At that point he thought he could only play defense. He was in a state of shock that Anubis was able to destroy his magnificent dragon, arguably the strongest in the game. Losing his Blue-Eyes seemed to break him. He did not know what to do as he drew a card that could not help him.

"I summon Masked Dragon (1400/1000) in defense mode. Turn end," he cried as he held himself up. His single, red and white thick skinned monster crouched down on his side of the field.

"I laugh at your weakness. You can forfeit anytime you want," he mocked him as he drew. "I use Raise Dead to bring back Sphinx Teleia!"

The disturbing female beast was brought back to the field.

"Teleia attack his Masked Dragon!" he said.

The female beast attacked it, again using its sharp claws to cut it down. The dragon disappeared, and Kaiba, with Teleia's special ability, lost life points equal to half of his monster's attack points, which was 700.

"Activate Masked Dragon's special ability to summon a dragon Level four or less to the field," Kaiba said weakly. Being at 600 life points, Kaiba gave himself one last turn with this. "I summon Blackland Fire Dragon (1500/800) in defense mode."

He knew Anubis would attack with his other sphinx. The other sphinx's ability would have Kaiba's life points deducted equal to the amount of his monster's defense points. With this, he would remain with 200 life points.

Anubis did was Seto expected him to. Andro Sphinx destroyed his other dragon, and Kaiba had 200 life points left. Seto, who was hanging on by a string and no longer standing, heard Anubis continue to taunt him more and end his turn. Blood ran down his nose and his eyes were bloodshot, but he would not die until every one of his life points was gone. Kaiba breathed heavily, almost cherishing each breath he took, fearing each may be his last. He shook as he drew a card of what might have been his last turn. He waited a few moments before looking at it, praying for a miracle.

_Give me…something…to fight with_, he thought. _I can't…lose. Not yet. I still have…something…to protect…and everything to save._

He finally looked at his card. Some strength had returned to him! He had forgotten that this card was in his deck. Seto stared at it for a minute, enjoying the moment he had drawn it before he would play it. Still, he had not the right card to play it. Observing his hand, he saw one card that would give him a chance to get what was necessary.

"Mining for Magical Stones," he played. "I can reuse one magic card by discarding two, and I choose Godsend."

He discarded two cards from his hand and retrieved Godsend from the cemetery. He had drawn just what he had hoped: a miracle.

"I'm going to destroy your thoughts of victory," he began. "First, I will use the Heavy Storm magic card to rid of your Gods' Forsaken Tomb!"

Winds blew, lightning flashed, and rain fell as the pyramid began to crumble. Light was returning to their eyes, and the dark pyramid shattered to pieces as did the trap card on Anubis' side of the field. Once the pyramid was gone, the two sphinxes cried in pain as they were destroyed, being another result of the trap card's destruction. The storm died after that.

Yugi saw Anubis and Kaiba, still dueling. He got as close as he could to the dueling field, trying to see who was winning. Seeing a nearly dead Kaiba told him that Seto was losing. Yugi became happy that Seto was still alive and fighting on, despite how weak he was. He watched on as Kaiba continued his move.

"With the destruction of my two sphinxes, a new, greater one takes their place," Anubis laughed. "Come to life, Theinen the Great Sphinx (3500/3000)!"

A beast that looked to be a combination of the two previous beasts now appeared on the field. It was absolutely gigantic, standing on two legs, yet containing two huge paws. With two heads and overwhelming attack strength, there was not much that could stand up to its strength. It was Anubis' greatest beast.

"You have not a monster on the field to defend you from it!" Anubis pointed out.

"I'm not done," he said. "And now: Raise Dead! Reborn, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

Seto played the magic card, and his three headed beast was now brought back to the field, 4500 attack points strong.

"But that is not it yet still!" Kaiba's voice grew stronger. "Now it will be sacrificed, but it will not be forgotten. It will make her stronger, as well as every other of my dragons in the grave. Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, I respectfully sacrifice you!"

The three headed Blue-Eyes disappeared, but suffered no pain.

"I bring forth the one brighter than the sun: Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon (3000/2500)!" he yelled, somehow finding strength to stand momentarily.

A bright ball of blue light appeared on Seto's side of the field. It gave a blinding glow, and what remained after the glow was a remarkably gorgeous dragon. Its wings spread widely as it gave its harmonic cry. The room became even brighter with its presence. This one headed dragon had no arms, but contained powerful white body and an extra long tail. This dragon contained jewels of sapphire on its body as well.

Anubis looked into its blue eyes and remembered. He remembered the creation of this beast of beauty, and how it seemed to bring happiness whenever he was with it. How he used to feel and still felt for this creature haunted him. He had wished for it to fight alongside him, and no one else. After he abandoned it, he never wanted to see it again and not be reminded of his past. He was shocked to not only see it again, but to come to battle with it. The idea of Kaiba having it in his deck never crossed his mind, and he regretted not preparing for it.

"It only gets greater," Seto activated its ability. "It gains 300 attack points for each dragon in my cemetery!"

Almost all the monsters Anubis had destroyed were dragon types. Total, there were eleven dragons in the grave. With those eleven dragons came an extra 3300 attack points. Adding that to an already powerful 3000 attack points gave the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon 6300 overall. As the dragon gained attack points, it shined brighter still. It was as if the sun was in the room.

"Ironic, isn't it?" Kaiba moaned, smiling as he fell back to one knee. "What used to be your love and what once kept you alive has now been turned against you, all because of you, and it will destroy you."

Anubis was still suffering from a bit of a shock to see his old monster. Everything that it represented, everything it reminded him of, came back to him. He almost began to miss it, but he felt that even she could not save him. Nothing could. He had already fallen into a dark hole containing an endless tunnel of darkness, a tunnel he decided to go on.

_So you guide him now_, he thought to himself. _Then you will have to die, too._

"Attack his sphinx now!" Kaiba demanded of his dragon.

The dragon flapped its large wings and hovered in the air. Its blue eyes glowed as it began to charge its attack. It opened its mouth and a stream of light blue grew. Once at its maximum power, the stream burst at Theinen the Great Sphinx, making an exploding sound as it was sent. The narrow attack had such a great force that it went straight through the giant right back to Anubis, who was sent flying back into the wall. Anubis lost a large portion of his remaining life points, bringing him down to a small 450. He found that he could not pull himself back up to walk back to the field. He crawled back as blood ran down from his mouth. He was not expecting to suffer so much pain.

"Well done," he gagged. "You have nearly…evened the score."

The two men were both taking heavy breaths. The duel had taken much out of them, almost to the point of death. Luckily for Seto, the duel was now in his hands. He had complete control with his 6300 attack powered beast.

"It's over," Seto told him to give up. Anubis did not have a single monster strong enough to take down the dragon. "Turn end."

_You're going to win!_ Yugi thought. _You've done it!_

Anubis applauded Seto on his great accomplishment. Yet even though things were definitely not in his favor, he knew that Seto still had one weakness, and planned to attack that weakness with full force.

"I will tell you now, Seto, that all I can do is play defense until I draw one card, and my chances of drawing it are slim to none before you defeat me," he admitted. "This makes victory for me almost impossible. However, there is a single alternative that can bring me victory."

Seto laughed at him.

"There's nothing you can do. Accept defeat," Seto said.

"I will play this card in face down defense mode," he continued to play. "Turn end. I know ways you can win. All you need is another monster card, or there is one other card that can bring my defenses down."

Seto ignored him. He drew a card and ordered Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon to attack Anubis' face down monster, which was quickly and easily destroyed. Seto ended his turn. He patiently awaited a monster card or his magic card: Defense Seal.

"You know that these are not monsters of illusions, but reality, for this is a dark game," he continued. "So if directly attacked, the pain, the wound, anything that comes at the price of being attacked, will be there. However, for the two of us, the competitors, there will be no death until his life points hit zero."

"Make your move," Seto urged him to continue. He didn't understand what Anubis was getting at.

"But what about for anyone else? If these monsters and their effects are real, then even if someone outside of the duel were to get hit, they too would be affected," Anubis laughed.

Seto glanced over at Yugi, who was just as clueless as he was to as of what Anubis was talking about. Thinking that Yugi was the only other person there, Seto did not know who else he could hurt. Yugi was safe behind an invisible wall anyway, so anything from their monsters could send at him would be deflected.

"First, I use the Ancient Telescope," he played a magic card. "Now I can see the next five cards in the top of your deck."

Five cards appeared face up on Kaiba's side of the field. The cards appeared in the order which they came from draw. The card on the top of his deck was the trap, Ring of Destruction. The next card was a monster card, La Jinn the Mystical Genie. The third was a magic card, Cross Sacrifice. The fourth was Defense Seal, and finally his last was his Saggi the Dark Clown. Three of those cards would soon enough lead him to victory.

"You see now your fate: you will lose in the next two turns!" Seto complained. "You knew it was coming, so why did you waste your time playing that?"

"I was merely seeing how much time I had to knock some sense into you," he told him. "Kaiba, defeating me would be the worst thing you will ever do if that is what you intend to do."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Seto growled.

"First, I play this in face down defense mode and end my turn," Anubis said. "I can easily make you regret even accepting this duel."

"You're messing with me! You're about to lose and you're trying to find a way to make me fold," he scowled. "Whatever you're trying to do isn't going to work. Attack, Blue-Eyes!"

The dragon once again easily destroyed his defense monster. He ended his turn after that. By next turn, Kaiba would have a monster card in his hand, in which he could defeat his opponent.

"Kaiba, you are bold and you are intelligent. I will give you that, but you believe you are much better than what you really are. Your choices are not always in the best interests of anyone else other than you, whenever it may be. You try to make it so you sacrifice nothing and remain unharmed no matter what the result. This time, there will be none of that. One way or another, you will lose something most valuable to you."

Seto was silent, but was still under the impression that Anubis was playing head games with him. Being so close to winning, Seto would not let that work on him.

"My turn, and now it is do or die," he said as he drew a card. It was one of two cards he needed to defeat Seto. "First I summon this in attack mode: Masaki the Legendary Swordsman (1100/1100)."

It was a shock. He had just summoned a weak, regular level four monster in attack mode, where it would be more than annihilated by Seto's dragon.

"I'm under the assumption you're throwing in the towel," Seto said, seeing what he had just played. "Hell, the attack strength of my dragon is so much greater that it'll blast straight through your monster and go right into the wall and make a hole."

"Exactly, but it will not be just the wall," Anubis smiled.

The floor between him and his monster began to open. What rose from the ground seemed to be a large thick pole. The entire pole rose up, and at the bottom a person was tied tightly to it, unable to move. His mouth was covered, preventing him from speaking to his icon, his hero, his family member.

"Mokuba!" Seto yelled when he saw his brother tied to the pole. "You bastard! Let him go!"

"But why? This is the card that will grant me victory," he grinned, still unable to stand. "You said it yourself: your monster's power will be so overwhelming that it will surely break through my pathetic monster and destroy what is behind it."

Seto grew silently angry.

"I end my turn," he said. "It is up to you now, Seto. You can destroy Masaki and wipe out the rest of my life points, thus winning the duel. Yet at the price of winning comes your brother. Are you willing to give him up for victory?"

Yugi pounded on the invisible wall. Mokuba was not to be a card to play! He knew though, that there was nothing he could do to stop any of this. He could not save Mokuba, or help Kaiba. His friend was on his own.

Seto froze. Time stopped. Just when he thought the duel was his, everything changed and turned against him once again. His brother's life, his life, everything was on the line. He had a chance to restore everything, but at the cost at ruining his and his brother's lives. A decision had to be made now.

"Need I prove to you that what I say will happen will?" he asked. "Masaki, make a scratch in his brother with your blade!"

Masaki turned around on his toes. Holding his thin, samurai-like blade, he leaped in the air and cut a small yet deep cut into Mokuba's shoulder. Though his mouth was covered, Mokuba's scream of pain could still be heard. Masaki landed and turned back to face Kaiba, who went into an even greater state of shock seeing his brother bleeding. He shook as he watched his brother, tied helplessly to a pole, squirm from the hit. He wanted to wrap him in his arms and hold him like he was his son. Mokuba did not need to be here, nor did he deserve the part he played in Anubis' twisted game.

"What will it be? Do you have courage enough to fulfill your promise, or will you eat your own words?" Anubis was forcing him to make a decision. "Come, Seto! Use your cards to cut my throat…and his!"

The line struck a memory cord. This situation was a similar one that he had put Yugi in. Atop the castle at Duelist Kingdom, Seto had dared him to take his life. He had told him what Anubis told him.

"Use your cards to cut my throat!"

_Was this me? _He asked himself.

The memory in his head faded to something else. It was black, and all that was there were him and his Blue-Eyes White Dragon standing behind him. Then something else came into the picture. A younger version of Mokuba walked in. He happily waved to his brother, his face containing a huge smile on his face.

"Come on, brother!" he cheerfully called to him.

Seto's own will wanted to follow him, but he seemed to be unable to move. Mokuba continued calling his brother to come with him, but he remained still. Almost randomly, Mokuba's face became something of shock and fear. Seto didn't understand until he saw an old, war machine gun in his hand. Soon enough, he felt a hand pat his shoulder. He turned his head, and behind him was no longer the Blue-Eyes, but his step father, Kaiba Gozaburo. In his step father's left hand was a machine gun just like his. His intentions were obvious. Gozaburo put his other hand on the other handle in front of the butt of the gun, his finger on the trigger.

"No!" he cried.

"Good work, Seto," his step dad complimented him.

The moment he pulled the trigger was in slow motion. Bullets flew fast from the gun. Seto couldn't look at what was happening to his brother. He didn't even stop to think. He drew his gun and pointed it at Gozaburo. With that done, Gozaburo disappeared. He had been a mere illusion in his mind. All he saw ahead of him was his brother, drenched in blood, holding his chest and crying.

"W-why, brother? Why…have you done this to me?" he said in almost a whisper.

Seto looked down at the gun in his hand. It was pointed directly at Mokuba. The front of the gun was warm, showing it had been used recently. He stood still, shaking with the gun in his hand.

_Was it all me? Did I do this? No…I wouldn't,_ he thought, trying to assure himself Gozaburo was to blame somehow.

"B-brother…" Mokuba called to him again.

Lacking a sense of anything at the time, Seto ignored his call. His brother remained standing as well, even though he was seriously hurt and had lost a lot of blood.

"You've…you've let me down. You've betrayed me. You've-you've become…him," he said, tears rolling down his face.

Seto shut his eyes tightly almost in anger.

"I'm not him!" he screamed as he felt his finger pull the trigger again. More gunshots went off, and he heard his brother collapse. That's when he stopped shooting. He opened his eyes and saw Mokuba drowning in a puddle of blood. "My brother! What have I done?"

Everything became reality to him again. All this was a simple image he had thought of in his mind. Seto was on his arms and knees, breathing heavily. There was still blood running down his nose, along with sweat.

At the other end, Mokuba and Anubis stared at Seto, who had obviously been distracted by a thought for a moment or two. Mokuba wanted Seto to make the right decision, but he didn't know what that decision was. He just wanted to stop his brother's obvious pain.

"There are no forfeits," Anubis told him. "Only defeats."

Seto had made up his mind. He drew a card, his monster card that would win him the duel. Knowing what it was, and knowing what he was going to do with it, he didn't even look at it.

"I…end my turn," he said silently.

With a smile on his face, Anubis knew he would be the victor of the duel. All he had to do was wait to draw the right card.

"So, it is you that will be destroyed by what it is that you love most," he mocked him. "How ironic."

He drew a card. Not the right one. He ended his turn. He only needed one card to fulfill his destiny of victory. Seto's next turn was the same as his last. He drew and ended his turn. Come Anubis' turn. He drew and found the card he had been waiting for.

"I use Diffusion Wave Motion to reuse the magic card, Raise Dead!" he said, taking the magic card from his graveyard. "And I will use it to bring back your own Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

Seto's three headed dragon returned to the field, only this time fighting for the enemy. Losing a dragon from his graveyard, the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon lost 300 attack points, but still had 1500 points greater than that of the Ultimate Dragon.

"And the card to your defeat: Attrition!" he played the magic card. "Your monster will now lose attack points equal to my monster's attack points, which is 4500 of them!"

Losing 4500 points would bring it down to a measly 1500 attack points. As it lost attack points, the dragon cried in pain, and the brightness of it became less and less.

"Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack and wipe out the rest of Seto's life!" he ordered.

Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon charged its shot with its three heads, and then blasted it straight at the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon. The blast went straight through the heart of the beast. It screeched as it took in the pain. Next to it, Seto screamed as the attack came in contact with his monster. He heard a ripping sound as his dragon disappeared, being defeated. He held his heart as his life points dropped to zero. He was able to give one look at Yugi before dying. Staring back at him, Yugi had sensed what Kaiba would say to him if he could. He wiped his tears away as he watched Kaiba collapse, dead.

With nothing more to do or say, he departed from the building, being the soul fighter left to defeat him.

Anubis regained his strength and was able to stand again. The duel was finished. The monsters had disappeared. He had won just as he had hoped to win. He walked over to a dead Seto and stood over him. He pulled out the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon card and ripped it in half. He dropped the two pieces before him, and walked away. That card was to no longer have use or meaning, no matter what happened in the end.

As he returned to his side of the field, he saw he had left Mokuba tied to the pole. The younger Kaiba had stopped attempting to escape and wept for his brother's sacrifice. Now he didn't know what he had. To him, life had lost its meaning, and he was nothing but an empty shell. For the first time, Anubis felt remorse for one of his victims. He knew what it was like to have nothing at all; to be alone and so far away from the one he loved. Showing not his remorse for Mokuba, he walked over to Seto's little brother and wiped away his tears.

"With you, I will begin a new, better life. I will be your brother now," he said to him.


	22. Reunion of the Past

His worst nightmare had come true. Yugi was alone, the soul survivor of their strong group of seven. He hated that feeling, the feeling of loneliness. Yet it was odd, because he had always been a more independent person. Granted, it was obviously not the first time he had felt alone, but he could never understand why he hated it so much when he so often preferred to work on his own.

_Why do I hate this so much? _He asked himself as he continued running from the city. _I always fight alone…so why am I so disgusted by this lonesome feeling?_

He was able to flee only to the edge of the city before exhaustion and fatigue began to heavily drag on him. He had eaten little and slept none in the past few days. It had not taken its great effect on him until then. Absolutely worn out, Yugi stopped and panted hard, leaning on his knees. Sweat dropped down his face as he began talking to himself.

"Aibou, Otogi, Honda, Bakura, Jounouchi, Anzu, Kaiba," he listed them off by disappearance, "death befallen upon you all. Now I am by myself in this vast yet meaningless world of beauty."

He held his chest. He was so tired and had a mind splitting headache from the last few days. Yugi was aware of the idea that if he fell here, he could very well die, but his poor physical shape was uncontrollably bothersome. He stood up and tried to continue walking on the trail.

"I have to rescue you…but with everyone gone, who is going to rescue me?" he asked to seemingly no one.

He took only a few steps before the blurry world became black.

* * *

His right hand reached over when he felt something soft and warm. The fuzzy material ran through his fingers as he opened his eyes. Looking down, he saw that he was lying in a cozy bed, a blanket wrapped around him. Slowly, he sat up, shaking his head as if he had just seen something unreal. Unknowingly, an entire day had passed. He had been out for a whole twenty four hours, regaining much of his lost sleep. While he was unaware of the amount of time passed, Yugi felt much more refreshed than he had before. As he got out of bed, Yugi was sure he would be dead. He would have been convinced he was dead had he been unable to feel the softness of the blanket. In many ways, he had wished he was dead.

Looking around the room, he discovered that he had been placed in a hut similar to the ones he and his friends had been staying at. This time, it was much smaller, being able to fit only a bed and small table next to it, which contained a variety of food on it. The hut was made out of mere straw and sticks, but it was quite comfortable.

Yugi ignored the food momentarily to step outside. The day was as gorgeous as the other days had been, the sun still shining, the temperature perfect, the atmosphere not polluted. He saw that he was still on the trail that they had been following since they had first been brought to this world. He began thinking back on it all, trying to find the significance of the road they were to follow.

"Follow the familiar road…" he said to himself. "That's what the note said, but what were you trying to show us?"

He kept on trying to think. Every time they had come upon a challenge, it always seemed to spark a memory within. Everything that had been set up, it reminded him of something that had already happened. He wondered if the same thing happened with the rest of the group, if they too, remembered a time that they'd easily redo.

"Following the path of the past…reoccurring mistakes…that's what you meant. That's what this is," he said, nearly grinning at his discovery. "I won't make those same mistakes. I'm going to keep my promise."

He walked back into the hut, more confident than he'd been the entire time there. Without hesitation, he dug himself into the food that sat on the table. Yugi realized how horrible it was to eat alone. There were no stories being shared, no ideas being spread, no laughter or screaming or crying. To him, it was all too silent.

Yugi was in no hurry to finish. He knew this time he would want to be at his best. Not knowing what spot Anubis would plan to attack him at, he wanted to be prepared. He not only wanted to get himself in better health, he wanted time to think about anything he could remember that might pull him back.

Unfortunately, he could not come to just one.

_So many mistakes in such little time,_ he thought to himself as he took a bite of meat. _It_ s_eems like I've not been with Aibou for long, and in that short period, there are so many things I could have done better._

Another thought ran through his mind, one that would change his entire plan.

_Trying to recall every memory with Aibou and his friends is near impossibility, _he thought. He stopped reviewing flashbacks. _There can be no preparation for an unknown battle. There is no strategy. It's not duel monsters or any game that I'm familiar with. I'm going to have to land on my feet_

_I have to do this on my own._

He looked out the glassless window and saw the sun was beginning to set. He was long done eating and rested. His concentration and determination were as high as they could get in such a time. There would be no better time for him to go off for the final battle, the one which would determine the destiny of him and his friends. Yugi abandoned the hut and went back to the trail, going down what looked to be the final trip of this journey.

As he walked alone down the trail, Yugi took one last envious look at what was supposed to be paradise. The beauty was indescribable, the horror unimaginable. The amazing scenery did not outweigh the ugliness that overcame Yugi's thoughts of this place. He wanted to go back to reality, where the streets were dirty and the atmosphere was unclean. Reality, where the clouds covered the sun and emotions ran high. Reality, where he could reunite with his partner and friends and create wonderful memories to replace those he had forgotten. Comparing reality to paradise, paradise was nothing.

The moon was now in the sky as Yugi saw a tunnel was ahead of him. With nothing more to lose, having no fear, Yugi walked into it, assuming that was where he would meet his foe. The tunnel was so long that he could not see the ending of it. Pitch blackness would prevent him from seeing far ahead. Yugi would not turn back, but he found himself frustrated being unable to see. Slowly he began moving ahead.

Mysteriously, the room began to glow with a bright light. Yugi looked away momentarily so the light wouldn't blind him. When it was dim enough to see ahead, he stopped covering his eyes. A light would now guide him down the tunnel, but at the same time would torment him. The shining light were replays of the deaths of his friends in order which they were slaughtered. With this ahead of him, Yami Yugi did not want to go through this long tunnel, but he knew he had no choice. Trying not to look at the walls around him, he walked on, though trying to do so really did nothing for him. Every time he walked passed one of them, a memory would return to him, which would make him miss them more and increase the pressure on him. It got to him so much that he returned to a small state of depression and loneliness.

_Truly, I was never alone,_ he thought to himself. _I always believed I fought on my own because…_

He remembered when he had dueled his partner in the valley, and what he had told him about himself.

_I'm arrogant and persist in my own honor. I have but one value, and that value is my own life. I can't see others' pain and sorrow, so…I can't save anyone._

He walked passed the last flashback. His eyes were now concentrated on the ground. Only another blinding light would get him to look up again. Standing in front of him, in front of the end of the tunnel, were the spirits of Yugi, Anzu, Jounouchi, Honda, Kaiba, Bakura, and Otogi; his friends. Their stares lacked smiles, but their eyes were almost demanding something out of Yugi. They were nothing but empty shells, yet even then they seemed to know what he was thinking, and telling him something important. Knowing their message, Yami Yugi smiled.

"I remember the rest of that conversation," he said to them. "Aibou told me that I'm never fighting alone, and that I always need to believe that all of you and my monsters are with me."

He sighed almost happily.

"I understand now. If I am not alone, then you, all that I have, are always with me, and if you're with me, I should have the power to overcome. This is what I've learned, and with this knowledge, I'm going to keep my promise."

They didn't seem to hear him, but Yugi didn't care. He walked through them, and they dissipated. Yugi was unsure if it was part of Anubis' plan to make him feel worse about everything, or if it was a mere illusion within himself. Either way, it was to his benefit. For among the first times, it was his past that would help make or break his future.

Walking out of the tunnel, Yugi saw that he would have to climb up a tall hill to a large castle, similar to the one at Duelist Kingdom. It was the first place that Yugi had come to realize that there existed another half of himself that he never knew of, and that he and his partner, his other half, had to become one. Arguably, it was where his adventures with Aibou had begun, as well as their first victory together against Pegasus.

_This is where it all began_, he thought to himself, _but it is not where it will end._

He moved along, climbing several stairs and eventually reaching the castle door. He took a breath in and opened the door. The door slammed shut behind him upon entering. The inside of the castle was nearly the exact same layout of Duelist Kingdom's castle, only with different decorations. It was dark, small torches guiding the way. Some minutes later, Yugi had found himself in what seemed like the dueling hall. While there was enough light to see which room it was, the room was almost completely black. Yugi's instinct told him that this was it. This was where the final battle would take place.

In a flash, flames were suddenly put on the torches all around the room, giving plenty of light to it. It looked exactly as it had been in duelist kingdom, only the dueling field took up the entire floor, and the balcony where Pegasus normally watched was not there. Yugi looked to his left and saw that the balcony where spectators would watch was still there, only this time they contained something much more frightening. Yami Yugi gasped as he saw, in a line, the corpses of Yugi, Jounouchi, Kaiba, Honda, Anzu, Bakura, and Otogi, tied tightly to crosses. Yugi felt as if their lifeless eyes focused in on him, almost paralyzing him. Knowing that the more he stared at them, the more shock he would be in, which clearly would distract him from his goal. Viciously he turned away and looked ahead of him, where his dueling opponent would normally enter. His opponent was there indeed, but not for dueling.

"Bastard, why do you put them there?" Yugi growled at Anubis.

"They are all sacrifices to God, sacrifices for a better future. You will be the next," he smiled. "I wanted them to be present when you failed."

"I won't fail," he told him. "I refuse it."

"Are you fighting for them, or are you fighting for you?" Anubis asked of him.

"Them," he immediately answered.

"Is that true? Say you are victorious, they would come back. What also comes back with them is your chance to regain your lost memory. That is what you have wanted all along, is it not?"

Yugi stood silent. It was true that his greatest goal was to have his memories returned to him.

"That is why anyone who interferes with you and your desires, you destroy. In the beginning, you killed those who did that. Do you remember? Before the Duel Monsters game became the game of war, you used the game of life and death, weakness and strength, to destroy people. I use the same concept, but I use it on those deserving of its punishment. You on the other hand, used it on those who threatened you and your renewed life."

He did not know how to reply to what looked like a complete fact.

"I used the dark games to ruin people," he shamefully admitted, "but to say those people were undeserving of it isn't true."

"Perhaps not, but it was never for anyone else but you and your pleasure. It was all for your sake. You had just gotten a second chance at life, and you wanted no one to take that away from you! Even later, when you stopped using the dark games, you covered up your selfish intentions with people pleasing, acting as if you cared."

"That's not true! They helped me and I helped them!" he argued.

"It is the least you can do for allowing you to be part of them, even if you never considered yourself that way."

"No! I did. If I hadn't been part of that group, I wouldn't be anything. I would have nothing to live for! To some extent, I don't want to get my memory back, because I'm afraid of leaving them, afraid to make them upset."

"Do not give me such lies. You never had anything except your own wishes. That is the only thing you run on."

Seeing a sword in its sheath resting on holders attached to the wall behind him, Yugi ripped it off the wall. He unsheathed it and was almost threatening Anubis with it.

"And you believe you run on more than I do? The only thing you have is your single hope to create a perfect world."

There was a sword behind Anubis as well, and he drew his as well.

"It will benefit more people than whatever you want to accomplish will," he said.

"No, it won't. It can only hurt them," Yugi began. "Paradise itself can't exist. There is no such thing as perfect, and there can never be such a thing. If everything was to be that way, evolution would be inexistent, as would hopes and dreams. This world, it would only reflect people, who must grow and develop, as flawless and superior beings, in which they could never rise above their weaknesses. That is the reason for the past, the reason for the dark times, just like the reason for rain: it covers up the light, but in exchange brings another necessary source for growth. In perfection, there's no change, only a boring, repetitive cycle that makes life unworthy."

It was Anubis who found himself stuck in silence.

"The past and the dark times are more like haunting spirits rather than steps," he argued back. "If they are rid of, the people can live happily."

"If you succeed, then prove to me that you're right. I'll be watching down from Hell," Yugi smiled at him.

Anubis returned the smile.

"The rules are not complicated: use the weapons that surround us to defeat your opponent. It is mere hand to hand combat, something I know neither of us is experienced with," he said.

Yugi held his sword out, pointing the tip of the blade at his opponent.

"We are men of similar aspects: we have nothing to lose and everything to gain, and everything to prove," Anubis said. "It is a fair fight that will show us the better man."

Yugi agreed.

"In the depths of the heavens or Hell, I will see you there," Yugi told him. "But you're the one who will be meeting me there, waiting, because I made a promise to a friend, and no matter what, I cannot break that promise to him."

He glanced up at little Yugi and gripped his sword tighter.

"Then I will break it for you," Anubis told him.

The two charged at one another, carrying the burdens of their heavy swords along with their futures.


	23. Light or Dark: The Blades of Two Sides

The sound of two swords clashing rang through the room. It was reasonably sloppy swords play by the two of them, but their swings were accurate, hitting close to its target every time. Yugi found trying to keep Anubis' attacks at bay was not so easy. Being significantly stronger than he was, Yugi was hardly able to push the blade away from him. He found that he was growing tired quicker than that of his opponent, as well as being more on the defensive end than the offensive.

Anubis vertically swung straight down. The attack was easily foreseen, and Yugi blocked it, holding his two hands on the hilt of his sword. Wisely, Anubis kicked him, sending him rolling backwards into the wall. Quickly standing up, knowing his opponent would be coming at him, Yugi realized that he had dropped his sword, which now lied in the center of the room. He turned around, hoping that there would be some sort of weapon to assist him. A long spear hung from the wall, and he quickly grabbed the wooden part. With Anubis running towards him, he threw it in a javelin like manner. Hardly seeing it come towards him, Anubis rolled out of the way. While he was evading the attack, Yugi took the time to retrieve his sword.

"You missed," Anubis snarled.

"No, rather than standing against it, you fled from it," Yugi laughed at him.

"Just like you fled from every scene which your foolish companions dropped dead?" he snapped back.

Yugi refused to let Anubis get away with such a comment. He charged at him, carrying the sword over his right shoulder. Coming upon his opponent, he swung at an angle. Anubis simply stepped back, once again avoiding damage. Yugi immediately tried another swing, which was blocked. Anubis once again tried to kick him, but Yugi was ready for it this time. As Anubis kicked, Yugi spun away from him. The missed kick put him off balance, which gave Yugi an opportunity to attack. He jumped at him in an attempt to do a horizontal swing jump attack with his sword. He had put enough power into this attack that when it collided with Anubis' sword, it forced Anubis to release it. However, his attack did not connect to cause damage, and left him open to an attack, for he could not recover from the force of his attack fast enough. Anubis saw this opening, and delivered a powerful punch to the face. Yugi was again sent backwards onto the ground while Anubis went to grab a giant axe nearby.  
"You will have to do better than that," he said, wielding the large axe.

Yugi knew that he was fighting carelessly. Though he was no master of such fighting style, he knew that his moves were sloppy. With blood running from his nose, he got himself back up, and once again charged with his sword. Anubis' weapon being significantly larger and heavier, he lifted it over his head and swung down as hard as he could. Yugi realized he was not moving fast enough to avoid the swing, so he lifted the sword up, using his other hand to hold the blade end, and barely stopped the axe blade from falling on him. Blood trickled from the hand on the blade as he pushed up as hard as he could to try to push it away. The blade was too heavy and his opponent too strong to do so. Thinking fast, he could only see one way to get out of that situation, and he had executed it extremely fast. He ran towards Anubis and nailed him in the gut with his knee. Yugi had done it just fast enough. Now he had Anubis against the wall.

"I will win this fight. I am being depended on to be victorious," Yugi threatened him, pointing to his friends on the balcony hanging from crosses. He backed away, holding the sword at an upward angle in front of him.

"Are you really being depended on by others, or are you more so depending on yourself to pull through?" he asked him, still holding on to his axe.

"Don't give me such sarcasm," Yugi snarled.

"I am being totally serious," Anubis shrugged his shoulders. "I see no one here to support you but yourself. All I see are a couple of corpses that have become what they are because one of their companions let them suffer and die."

Enraged, Yugi made yet another dash. The axe blade and the sword blade collided once again, this time more on Yugi's right side. The axe being on top of the sword, Anubis pushed the sword down and used the dull part of the axe blade to smack Yugi on the side of the face. Yugi fell and rolled on his back. Doing this enabled him to see Anubis' oncoming attack, which he rolled away from. The axe's blade had been smacked downward so hard that it became stuck in the ground. Anubis knew he did not have time to mess with getting it out, so he went for another weapon. Seeing his opponent weaponless gave Yugi the impression he could easily attack without harm and possibly come out victorious. He charged, holding the blade with both hands above his head. What he had not seen was Anubis grabbing a bow and arrow, which was immediately aimed and fired when ready. Yugi stepped aside, but still could not avoid the arrow. The arrow had hit him on the far right side of his groin, and he was stopped instantly. The arrow had not gotten in deep, but the pain was still immense. He backed up against the wall farthest from Anubis, holding the spot underneath his wound and dropping his sword.

"You are too slow and foolish," Anubis said as he went to draw another arrow.

Knowing that unless he did something he would be hit again, Yugi ripped the arrow out of his stomach. He growled in pain as the arrow left his body and blood squirted out. He dropped the arrow and grabbed a bag of needles behind him. He drew four between each of his fingers, and threw them with as much force and accuracy as he could. Only two hit Anubis, one in the right shoulder and one in the right hand, but both were enough to stop the attack. Anubis dropped the bow to pull out the needles. Yugi drew four more needles. There were only twelve in the bag, but each was fairly large, and terribly sharp. Just as Anubis had pulled out the needle in his hand, Yugi sent the next four at him. Anubis saw this coming, and removed himself from harms way. Yugi quickly had the last four ready, and threw them as well. Anubis' left hand was now victim of one needle. He pulled the needle out quickly, blood running down from the backs of his hands.

"Is that all you have for me?" he asked of Yugi. "I expected much more."

Weakly, Yugi picked up his sword. Anubis recovered his sword as well. Yugi's head had already been hit twice, and he now had an open wound to worry about. More than ever, everything was against him.

"I've still much more to offer to you…" Yugi said to him silently.

"Then show me," Anubis told him.

The two began to do swords fight again. Though he had taken more damage than Anubis had, Yugi fought decently. He blocked all of his opponent's blows, and was able to get a few small hits on his opponent. But the speed, energy, and strength required for such a fight was much, and it began to drag on him. He was losing blood from his wound, and he grew tired with every time he struck or defended. Trying to draw him away, Yugi did one heavy swing at an angle, which missed horribly and put him off balance. His guard was down, and had just showed Anubis a huge opening, which he would capitalize on. Yugi moved back slightly, but still, the blow was to be unavoidable. Blood flew from him and splattered on a nearby wall.

"Yes, a fool you are. You have learned nothing, for you make the same mistake," Anubis reminded him of little Yugi's error when he was dueling with swords with him.

Everything to him had suddenly become silent and hard to see. He was able to see the next blow coming, and blocked it, but he could barely hang on. Anubis swung hard, hitting Yugi's sword and it flew from his hand. With the dull part of the blade, he slammed it into his ribs. Yugi went soaring into the wall, crashing into it and falling to the cold ground. He heard the footsteps of his opponent walking to him, and knew that he had to grab something, anything to keep him from delivering the final blow. Without looking, he reached over to the wall and felt around for any weapons. He ended up grabbing a thick caveman like mallet. When Anubis became close enough, he swung it upwards as hard as he could. He was able to hit the hand containing the sword, which did quite some damage to his hand and the sword also flew from his hand, but the force of his strike forced Yugi to release his weapon as well. He was too weak to hold on to it. Though his right hand severely aching, Anubis grabbed Yugi by the neck and pushed him up against the wall, still holding him in the air. Yugi struggled to break free.

"You should see now the reason for your destined failure," he began to mock him, staring deeply into Yugi's suffering eyes. "I see not the reason for your return. All you did was continue on your reign of selfishness. You destroy the people around you. Just look up there."

He turned Yugi's head towards his friends.

"Each one of them, though they were brought down by their own faults, you took away any hope of their existence. Like your partner, he did not give you his memories, just as he had told you he would, because you took them from him! All that was left for him because of that was a dark past that eventually consumed him! With only that in his past, he had no hope for a future! And you see now that he is gone. He is dead, and his soul wanders in flames now. You took everything from him, even his life!"

Yugi was still somewhat choking from Anubis' hold, would not be able to respond to that. In his mind, he thought that it was the truth.

"You say the past is always with us, because we are to learn from it. Clearly, you have not learned a thing from the past, because your entire past is nothing but your own lie, and you refuse to acknowledge the past of anyone else. For that, you are nothing more than a hypocrite!"

He unleashed his fist of fury on Yugi, viciously punching him several times. Though his left hand was not his strong one, his punches were fierce and powerful. Yugi could not even defend himself. He tried anxiously to send a strike at Anubis, but it was useless, and with each punch delivered to him, he grew weaker. Anubis did not stop until his right hand bothered him too much to continue holding on to him. He choked slammed him in the center of the room. Breathing heavily, Anubis walked away to get his sword again as Yugi lied in the middle of the floor, groaning in pain and unable to move. Every bone in his body felt broken to pieces. His entire body was a bloody mess, and even breathing sent a sharp pain through his body. Even worse, he felt that his spirit was tarnished. He had never felt such a powerful feeling of uselessness for as long as he had existed. Yugi didn't even want to get up, feeling that he already failed.

"Your actions, your life, your existence, have been useless and pointless from the beginning," Anubis said softly to him. "So then, I will dispose of such a life."

The sound of the sword being picked up from the floor rang through Yugi's ears.

_This is my end? I couldn't give them the second chance they deserve. He's right then. It is pointless for me to be here when I cannot make a difference._

Yugi lay motionless on the ground, waiting for the end. He felt that he had lost to the darkness, but not the darkness of Anubis, the darkness of himself. Having felt he had already hit the bottom, Yugi took a glance at his friends up at the balcony.

_I'm sorry…_

**_Author's Note: Te. He. He. I'm so evil. Anyway, I'm basically just here to inform you that you will probably see a series of updates on this story. This is because school is quickly approaching, and I want to finish this before school starts. I also have essays to do…so yes, I would love to have this all done before I start those as well. So I'm going to try to do as many updates as I can this week. From here on out, most chapters should be reasonably short, so hopefully it won't take too long to make them._**

**_The countdown has begun: only four chapters left (evil grin) and a final twist (maybe…well we'll see if it catches you by surprise)._**


	24. Light's Final Shimmer

Time slowed down. It seemed that Yugi was going to see his death in slow motion. His eyes focused on his already lost friends, still trying to apologize for not being able to save them. Filled with regret, he moved his hand up almost trying to reach them, when it hit something he had left unnoticed the entire journey. He looked at what it was, and saw the Millennium Puzzle. Knowing he had forgotten almost completely, though he wore it around his neck, Yugi grabbed the chain and held it up, staring at the front of it.

_Aibou created this. He slaved over this for a long time, and he eventually was able to finish it,_ he thought.

The eye in the front of the puzzle began to glow. Yugi shut his eyes briefly until the glow faded. He slowly opened them again, but saw nothing. In a state of confusion, Yugi put the puzzle down, assuming it was nothing.

"Yugi!" he heard a familiar voice. "Come on!"

Yami Yugi looked up at the balcony again, and standing at the edge were Jounouchi, Seto, Bakura, Honda, Otogi, Anzu, and little Yugi. Anzu was waving frantically for him to get up, smiling.

"We're waiting for you!" Anzu spoke again.

"W-what are you guys doing here?" Yugi asked in a low tone.

"What do you think, you idiot?" Honda asked him, laughing.

"I don't know. I thought that…that you were-" he started to say.

"Dead? Hell no," Jounouchi grinned. "That guy could never kill us."

"Son of a bitch only thinks he got rid of us," Otogi mentioned.

Yugi could not respond. He lied there in shock, trying to understand how they were to be there. Their bodies were no longer on the crosses, and somehow life had been given back to them, though Yugi had not defeated Anubis.

"It looks like you don't get it," Bakura said, having a wide grin. "We were never dead in the first place."

"But…but I saw it happen. I saw…" Yugi tried to talk again.

"You _saw_? You mean with your eyes?" Jounouchi sighed happily. "Wow, you're more naïve than I thought."

"What about what you don't see?" Anzu said happily. "What about the things that you can't see with your eyes, but your heart?"

"Corny," Seto sighed at her comment.

Yugi was beginning to make sense of it. He leaned up a bit, making the chain of his puzzle cling. He looked down at it again, and finally remembered.

_That which can be seen, and yet cannot be seen._

"You didn't think we'd abandon you like that," Honda swung his hand.

"No," Yugi replied simply.

"Then what are you waiting for, Other I?" little Yugi cheered.

There was a slight pause.

"Other me, we've all suffered, and in a sense, we've all lost, but you have to keep going. You have to shine your light and stop his darkness. We're always with you no matter what, and we'll fight side by side with you to defeat his evil heart."

Yami Yugi remembered Yugi telling him something like this before.

"That puzzle," Yugi pointed, "is how you and were brought together. It is also how we stay together, and fight together."

Yugi looked at his puzzle once more. He grabbed the chain tightly in determination. He then remembered where he had heard similar words: Battle City, and their fight against Yami Malik.

"Yugi," Seto began, "take revenge for us."

He nodded and finally showed a smile. He stood up as the seven of them slowly began to dissipate.

"I trust you," Yugi said to him before completely fading.

He returned to the state of reality. Yugi was back on the ground just as he was before he had seen his friends. The puzzle was still being gripped in his hand. Laying on his side, Yugi found that fighting through his pain was no longer impossible.

"That which is seen yet cannot be seen. Anubis, you've not killed them, and neither did I," he mumbled to himself.

Anubis towered behind him. He lifted the sword with both of his hands, pointing it straight down. Using the power of both his arms, he stabbed downward.

"What the-" he cursed under his breath as his attack was stopped.

Yugi now lay on his back, holding the blade with his hands, preventing it from falling on him. His fingers were being sliced by the sharp end, but it did not distract him. Being Yugi's last hope, Yugi continued pushing the blade away.

"And you still wish to fight?" Anubis snarled at him, trying to push the sword down on him.

"I do," Yugi struggled to talk. "I still have a promise to keep."

Yugi swung one of his legs at Anubis', which ended up tripping him. Anubis fell and Yugi quickly stood and moved away. He retrieved a miniature axe and his sword.

"So," Anubis said, getting back up, "you still have something left in you. Then let me be the one to strip you of it!"

Anubis attacked quickly. Clearly, he had much more energy and strength remaining. He swung the sword up, but Yugi blocked it, using only one hand to wield his sword now. When the two collided this time, he sensed something more in Yugi. He looked into his eyes, and Yugi no longer had that 'what if' look he had before. Now it was a fearsome glare with ferocity and determination. He knew that Yugi had found something that gave him strength, which was obvious by the way he was holding him back with a single hand wielding his sword. Yugi then swung the small, one bladed axe at his head. Anubis ducked his head, but right when he brought it back up, Yugi swung the axe back, smacking him on the side of the eye. He fell back, but quickly recovered, using attempting to thrust the sword right into him. Yugi side stepped it, and Anubis' sword crashed into the wall. Seizing the moment, Yugi hacked the axe blade into his side. Anubis pulled it out immediately, but he would suffer the effects of the damage.

"You dare not strike me and not receive a blow in return!" he shouted.

He pulled his sword out of the wall and waited for Yugi to come. When he did, another long sword fight began. The sound of thrashing swords echoed through the room. Yugi was able to land a few small scratches, all which were not severe. Anubis became frustrated, and his attacks became much more powerful yet predictable. The turning tides were felt by the two of them, and Anubis knew that he had to put a stop to it. He pushed Yugi away, hoping to bide some time to prepare for his next strike.

"You bleed," Yugi scowled, pointing at his opponent's wounds. His were not as bothersome as before, though they still bled and ached. "That makes you no different than the average man."

Anubis just ignored his comment. The two met at the center of the room and continued fighting by sword. After a bit, Anubis lifted his right foot. He put the sword in his right yet hurting hand, trying to hold off his foe just for a moment. Yugi saw this, but could not see the point in it. Ignoring that, he shoved Anubis' sword away from him and went to thrust the sword into him. The attack was just barely evaded, and Anubis countered with something else. As Yugi went by, he stuck his left hand out and pressed something deep into him. A dagger he had pulled from his boot was now in the chest of Yugi. He left the dagger at its stabbing point, hoping that it would be the death of him. Yugi stumbled back, a couple feet away from Anubis, blood running down his body and dripping onto the ground. Yugi now had three deep, heavily bleeding wounds in him.

"Fall," Anubis whispered to him, watching Yugi stagger.

Yugi waddled in place for a little bit, but then lifted the sword back in front of him. He bended his knees and looked ready for more fight. Anubis was unsure of how this was to be! Any normal man probably would have been down by now, but he remained standing and ready to fight. He became insanely upset, seeing his opponent still standing.

"Go to Hell!" he screamed.

As fast as he could go, he charged at Yugi, who ducked underneath his swing and did an upper cut. Anubis now had a wound similar to him, possibly even deeper than the one he had cut into his flesh. Anubis backed up against the wall, holding his wound with his arm. Yugi backed up as well, trying to catch a breath.

"It ends here…and now," Anubis said.

He ran so quickly and fast that Yugi could not see him coming. He blocked his up-cutting attack again, but the force was great. Yugi once again had the sword leave his hand. Not wanting to victim of another blow, he ran to the other side of the room, away from Anubis. The area he had run to contained no weapons for him as he would notice. Yugi stared back to Anubis after noticing, who pointed the sword at him.

"You have not a weapon to help you," he laughed, assuring himself victory. "Now you will die!"

Yugi had one more option in mind. He and Anubis ran toward one another. Anubis leaped in the air in order to do a powerful jump attack, holding the sword above his head.

"I am victorious!" he screamed as he slashed down.

Yugi jumped toward him.

The two fighters landed, both breathing heavily. Sweating and patting, Yugi laughed at the God-powered fiend.

"It is when man thinks he is better than man when one has his downfall," Yugi said. "You wear the power of a God around your neck, and you suddenly believe that you're superior; you're on top of the world. However, the real Anubis is up in the sky, watching you shamefully take his name and use it as your own. Put simply, you are no God, but your belief that you were has brought you down to the realization that you're not immortal!"

Anubis took deeper breaths. He looked down and in his chest, in the area of his heart, was the dagger he had stabbed into Yugi. In midair, Yugi had swiftly removed the dagger and stabbed it into him. Anubis' attack never happened. He dropped his sword and collapsed. He was quickly dying, and had not the strength to continue. Yugi ran over to him, cutting off the necklace with the God power in it. He then pointed the tip of the sword at his throat.

"You…have one," Anubis coughed blood. "Mercy me. Send my soul to the flames."

Yugi was aware that his soul would wander the Earth if he did not do so, but he was not so sure if he had remorse.

"For too long, I have wandered alone. In my times of life and death, I have always been alone," he said softly. "If I go into the fire, I will suffer the same, but not at my lonesome. I never had anything but my rage. Now that that is gone, I have nothing."

Yugi put the sword down. There was nothing more his opponent could do to harm him. He remembered the lake which he saw Anubis' true past on. Yugi had done one wrong to him, and that was not truly understanding the misfortune of his past. While his long past in Egypt was a mystery to him, Yugi knew he had memories of the present that he would cherish and love forever. Anubis had nothing. Having made a decision, Yugi shut his eyes.

"I'll send you there," he said quietly.

"S-soon, this world will fade, and you…you will return to real world. Your wounds will heal, and I will vanish forever," he groaned, yet almost happily.

"Then I will meet you there," Yugi said.

Taking his last breath, he died peacefully. With his puzzle, Yugi lifted the curse of his already tormented spirit and ridded of him for good.

Game end.


	25. Return to Reality: One Last Battle

The game was over. Possibly the greatest game of life and death was finally done, and his side had come out victorious. Yami Yugi immediately noticed the bleeding from his many wounds had stopped. The blood was beginning to evaporate and disappear in the air. His wounds were slowly beginning to close, the pain being swallowed away with it. He looked back up at his friends, and knew immediately he had to get them down. He made his way to the balcony and untied each of his friends from the crosses, making notice that they also began the process of healing and revival. Their bodies glowed with a mysterious yet blessing shine which showed they were being brought back.

_It never stopped glowing,_ he thought. _It was foolish to never see something so bright right in front of me._

He stood over the bodies as he felt his own wounds heal. The biggest wound that was healing the most was the one that opened when his friends began to die. As he stood there, watching them come back, he felt his entire strength had returned, although his cuts had not fully recovered. A tear of joy fell from his eye.

_Within me, I hold memories of horror and mystery, but I also have memories of love and unforgettable times. Whatever memories I can regain from my long ancient past could not give me better than what I already have._

The healing process was nearly complete. The perfect world began to fade into the real world. Yami Yugi knew as soon as all his wounds were healed, he would return to a mere spirit inside Yugi. He had no regrets about that though. He couldn't have been more thrilled to go back to the way things were.

Honda was the first to awake.

"Am I-am I back?" he asked.

Jounouchi stood up, punching Honda back to the ground.

"Yep, pretty sure you are," Jounouchi laughed, happy to be back. "Nearly broke my wrist punching that hard head."

Honda was ready to get up and fight him, but Anzu stepped between them, stopping them from tearing each other's throats out.

"Idiots number one and two…" she sighed.

"No, just an idiot and a bonkotsu," Kaiba was now up.

"Why you…" Jounouchi growled. Otogi held him back.

"Looks like everyone's back now!" Otogi cheered.

The group grew silent. All of them turned to Yami Yugi, who was in the process of returning to his spirit form inside the puzzle.

"Yugi…" they were about to thank him.

"No, I don't want you to thank me," he smiled as he became almost see-through. "I should thank you…for bringing me here."

Honda arched an eyebrow.

"I realized that I was truly guided here by all of you. Not just through here, but through everything. Because of you, I can fight, and will fight. I don't know if I would have done that before."

They all smiled at him as he became a ghost.

"It's nothing," Kaiba responded, looking down. His mind was still focused on something else.

"Kaiba," Anzu asked, "what is it?"

"Mokuba," he said with a soft tone. "Where is he? Did he do anything to him?"

Only Yami Yugi understood why Kaiba questioned Mokuba's whereabouts.

The utopia they had been in was now gone. What stood was the construction site of the dueling dome they had been at when they found Yugi, only now they were up on the main floor. Sitting on a dirty floor with plaster and tools, they removed themselves from the ground. Frantically, Kaiba searched for his brother. Lifting up a large piece of plaster, he found his brother lying underneath, unconscious. Seto tried to bring him back to consciousness, but Mokuba was still out.

"He-he isn't…" Seto looked towards the ground and then screamed. "Mokuba!"

Upon hearing his voice, Mokuba opened his eyes.

"S-Seto!" he called. He immediately leaped up into his brother's arms, and Seto hugged him tightly. He began to cry harder than he ever had. "I-I saw you die, an-and he put me i-in a hut all on my own, saying that I had no brother but…but him! All I kept seeing was you dying, Seto! Don't do that again!"

Seto hid it, but also shed a tear.

"Don't worry, Mokuba," he whispered in his brother's ear. "I won't do that to you ever again."

The group was happy to see the Kaiba brother's united.

"Somebody get help!" they heard a scream. It was Bakura.

The group looked behind them and saw Bakura kneeling on the ground next to a smaller body. Bakura did everything he could to try to keep this person alive, but he seemed to be losing him.

"It's Yugi!" he shouted at them. "He's…he's still hurt!"

"I thought that was supposed to heal!" Jounouchi exclaimed. "What the hell?"

For a brief moment, the group watched to see if the wound got any better, but it would not heal on its own. It continued to pour blood and Yugi began to breathe heavily and sweat. They could not understand why it was not closing, until Anzu thought back to it.

"Guys, there was one wound that wasn't caused by Anubis," Anzu mentioned, standing in shock. "Remember…when he was possessed, and Anubis tried to use him to kill the other Yugi? The real Yugi, he redirected the attack…at himself."

The entire group froze. They realized that one of them, arguably the one most undeserving of it, still had one more fight to overcome. They gathered around him, trying to think of ways they could help him. Jounouchi took his shirt off and used it to cover the wound to try and stop the bleeding, while Honda lifted Yugi's head on his knees. Seto pulled out a cell phone from his pocket and dialed 9-11.

And from the side, nearly invisible, Yami Yugi watched his partner. He suffered from more shock out of anyone when he saw that Yugi had to heal himself. This seemed to ruin his entire moment; his success in defeating Anubis almost felt like nothing to him knowing little Yugi might not make it.

"The ambulance is coming!" Seto told them.

"Hang on, Yugi!" Otogi cried out.

Yami Yugi wanted to burst into tears again. He felt like a wimp, but he couldn't stand the idea of losing Yugi, who was his most loved and important friend. He went and stood beside his partner, kneeling down next to him, placing a hand on his thigh. He shut his eyes, almost trying to telepathically speak to him.

"It's almost over, Aibou," he said, though he could not be heard. "You're not ready to die yet. I'm not ready to let you. We're not ready to let you."

_**Author's Note: Alright, a short one! Cliffy again…well kind of. In case you were wondering, that was the final twist (sort of) I mentioned earlier. **_

_**I meant to post this yesterday, but didn't have time. Sorry! Probably left y'all with a bit of confusion as of whether that was the end or not. Obviously it wasn't, and hopefully this chapter at the very least cleared some things up for you. I doubt any of you will see what the last chapter has in store. Only two left.  
Next one could be up as early as Saturday, but somehow I doubt that (might be the longest chapter of the last few) so it might be delayed until next week sometime. Then it's essays times…argh.  
Okay until next time. Please review!**_


	26. Atop the Building

Impatiently, everyone, including Sugoroku whom had been called in, paced around the hospital wait room, hoping to soon hear some news from the doctors on Yugi's condition. The tension ran high and emotions in sadness, even though they had just been given another chance at life. They had arrived a mere five minutes ago, and even waiting for such a short time nearly killed them. Knowing that it could be a bit before they received any word on him, they continued to pace in the lobby, trying to keep their mind off the idea of possibly losing Yugi. Their angry stomps showed that it obviously did not work.

Sugoroku was the only one who did not pace, but he was the most nervous of the bunch. He couldn't bear the idea of losing his only grandson, one whom he felt he had a father-son relationship. Him and Yugi had done so much together, and if he were to be gone, Sugoroku would be alone, haunted by Yugi's death which he felt half responsible for. Putting his hands together, he leaned his head into his clutched hands, crying and praying that Yugi would pull through.

"I can't stand this! I'm going back there!" Jounouchi exclaimed. He began to walk back to the ER room.

"Jounouchi!" Anzu grabbed him. Honda also lent her a hand in restraining him. "You can't go back there."

"Going back there isn't going to make things easier," Otogi said quietly. "All you're gonna see is Yugi all cut open and even bloodier. To make it worse, if you went back there, and saw that they couldn't save him…"

Jounouchi stopped fighting Honda and Anzu upon hearing Otogi. He turned to Sugoroku, kneeling down and putting his hand on his knee.

"I'm so sorry that we couldn't…" Jounouchi apologized.

Sugoroku pushed Jounouchi's hand off his knee.

"Boy, must you look like you're proposing to me or something?" Sugoroku kept good spirit with Yugi's friends. "It's not your fault about what happened. You've nothing to apologize for."

"It wasn't your fault either. It wasn't even Yugi's mother's fault. It's just…something that happened," Honda told him.

"It may have taken you guys a few days to find him, but you did, and now Yugi might be able to make it," Sugoroku pointed out the fact that they all had mysteriously been missing for a few days. "Wish that the chances were better than a maybe."

Seto snorted.

"Yugi understands what he's got, whether you believe that or not. He wouldn't give up," he looked away, sitting with Mokuba.

The group knew Seto was right. At a little bit more ease, the group sat and waited for the doctor.

* * *

Yami Yugi separated his spirit from the puzzle and Yugi again, afraid that if he stayed, only tragedy awaited him. He didn't want to watch his friend die. His spirit left the room, and abandoned the inside of the building. He did not want to see the expressions of his friends' faces when they were given the news Yugi would not be coming back with them. Instead of unknowingly joining them, he went to the roof of the building, thinking he would rather be alone when his friend was lost.

On the roof, Yugi stared up at the night sky. He could see no stars, as the clouds shadowed them. Looking front at the city, he could hardly see the gorgeous city lights glow through the nebulous fog. Nothing seemed clear to him anymore. All he saw and knew was hopelessness, and staring at the dark world only reminded him of it.

_What's next? What will become of me once Aibou is gone? All I see is a blank future, because without him, I'm not really anything, _he thought.

Yugi sat and placed his face against his knees. He was not entirely sure if he even wanted a future without little Yugi part of it. He did not want the rest of his memories back if his partner was not there with him to get them back. It would not be as meaningful to him, since him and Yugi had been journeying together so long to get them back for him.

He turned to the city lights again.

"The city is burning," Yugi moaned. "The flames have created the smoke which covers it."

He placed his forehead on his knees again.

"What's left for me?" he asked himself.

"You know, you really are a pansy when you're all depressed," he heard a voice behind him. Curious to see who it was that could see and hear him, he turned around.

Already in a bit of shock from the fact someone could communicate with him, Yami Yugi became even more abashed by who it was. The person walked to the edge of the roof, standing up and staring at the city ahead.

"Aibou…" Yami Yugi whispered, looking at Yugi also in spirit form.

"The lights shine so wonderfully at night, don't they? Even the fog can't cover them up. They shine right through it," little Yugi said to him.

Yami Yugi didn't precisely understand his comment. Yugi had acted as if he had not heard what he said earlier.

"You know, darkness and hard times are like rain: it covers the sunlight, but it's something that's needed to make things grow. When all is said and done, the clouds clear and the sun shows off a further evolved earth. The earth has become more beautiful," Yugi smiled as he looked up at the sky.

Yami Yugi remembered trying to explain that, and knew he had to justify it. Yugi had reminded him that this dark time will pass, and that in the end, he will be even more ready for the final journey ahead of him, one which he quested for since the beginning.

"After everything that's happened, you're still somehow able to see the side where the grass is greener…how?" Yami Yugi asked his friend.

Yugi finally turned to him.

"I can't see the world as a shadow. If I did, I wouldn't know anything but fear, and if I only knew fear, then what motivation for living would I have? I'd be afraid of everyone and everything," he began. "Deep inside of everyone, there's a motivation that drives them to live, even if that motivation is merely to search for a stronger one. That's how I've always been. For a lot of my life, I've always searched for something more, something that would not only keep me on my feet, but would give me something to happily look forward to."

Little Yugi looked at his Millennium Puzzle, holding it in his hand.

"It took me years to find that motivation, but I did, and now I have what I've always wanted, plus more."

The ambition Yugi was speaking of was clear to him. He smiled back at him.

Yami Yugi had never met someone so remarkable, even in the times he did not know. He was sure of it. His entire character was someone Yami Yugi idolized, for he was courageous and tough yet soft and inspirational. He not only loved Yugi as a friend, but also had an immense amount of respect for him as a person, more than anyone he had ever encountered. In many ways, he wished he could be like him.

"Aibou, we've seen and done so much together," he said cheerfully. "There's so much more that I want us to see. I don't want our journey to end."

Yugi looked back at the city lights. The fog was quickly clearing, the clouds beginning to rush away from above the city. A slight breeze blew on the cooler night.

"You'll always…be part of a journey with me," he told him.

Yugi disappeared into the air, but Yami Yugi was not concerned. He looked back to the city lights. The fog was gone, the clouds moved onward. He seemed to become lost in a trance as he stared at Domino. No longer seeing a burning city, he looked at it with new hope, knowing what the fate of his partner would be.

_You have shown me strength hidden behind tenderness. You'll surpass me by far…if you haven't yet already.

* * *

_

After over an hour of waiting, the doctor slowly came walking out of the ER. As soon as the group saw him, they leaped out of their chairs. Taller with brown hair and a small mustache, his large green eyes did not contain a hopeful expression.

"How is he?" Bakura asked him.

The doctor sighed.

"Is he going to be alright?" Jounouchi didn't even give the doctor time to respond.

"He lost a substantial amount of blood, and the stab wound was severely deep," he said to the large group.

They held their breaths.

"If that blade had gotten to the liver and the wound any wider...he probably wouldn't have made it," the doctor finished.

They exhaled in relief.

"So he's going to be okay!" Sugoroku exclaimed.

"Yes. He's very lucky. It will take him a bit of time to recover, but in due time, he should be fine," he said.

The group, over excited upon hearing Yugi's condition, loudly celebrated their friend's survival as if they were partying.

"I uh, do have what you might call bad news," the doctor interrupted them. "It seems to me…that this looked like a case of attempted suicide."

They froze. It was more than likely if they told the doctor the true story, he would find it insanely farfetched.

"Sir, Yugi was not suicidal," Anzu told him. "I can't imagine him trying to hurt himself in any which matter."

The doctor shook his head.

"In any case, I plan to have him questioned by a counselor just to make sure," the doctor said.

"Can we visit him?" Otogi asked.

"Yes, but don't stay too long," he responded, walking away.

The group turned to Sugoroku, who seemed a bit shaken up by the doctor's thoughts.

"You have to understand something: that wasn't suicide. He was protecting what he loved," Honda stopped, thinking he was explaining it all incorrectly. In truth, there really was no way to explain it without telling him what had happened.

"You don't have to explain anything to me," Sugoroku looked to the ground, smiling. "I think I know what you mean. I wasn't there for what really happened, and while I'm extremely concerned, I still trust him."

The group sighed in relief.

"I also trust what you say, which leads me to believe that he didn't do what the doctor said. It doesn't seem like him. He's too good for that," he concluded.

They all agreed. Sugoroku knew his grandson, and knew that somehow, Yugi would overcome everything. He had always sensed Yugi's perseverance would one day pay off for him, and it wasn't until he met Jounouchi and Honda and other friends of his that he realized that it was. He figured that Yugi wouldn't throw what he had earned away like that.

Together, they all went back to visit Yugi, who was still unconscious. Even though he was out, all of them knew that soon, he would be going back home, just like the rest of them were.

_**Author's Note: I could easily end it here. I could easily call it an overall happy ending and just stop writing here. But no. I've got one more idea which will be revealed in the final chapter. Not sure if you'll expect it. Maybe, we'll see.**_

_**Now I ask one small favor of all of you: at the end of the story, could you write a nice juicy review on any things you did like, things you didn't like, things I did well, things I could have done better? LOL doesn't have to be juicy, just a couple recommendations. I'm trying to improve my writing, and with those reviews, I can definitely make adjustments for future stories. You don't have to, but it would be much appreciated.  
Alright then, the final chapter'll be up soon. Hope you've enjoyed it!**_


	27. Correcting the Wrong

A little over a week had passed since Yugi had been released from the hospital. He still had stitches and would need them removed, but it was no big deal. All of them had moved on from everything that had happened, and continued their regular, everyday lives. Though they would never forget it, they would no longer let it distract them. It was over, and now there were other things to be done.

Running home from school, Yugi waved to his friends and walked into the Game Shop, where his grandpa waited for him. When Yugi walked in, his Grandfather slowly walked over to him, grinning.

"I was able to get it for you!" he said, handing him a small folded piece of paper.

Excited, Yugi took it, handling it almost with caution. He slowly opened it and saw the ten numbers he had been searching for. He ran upstairs to his room, throwing his backpack onto his bed and went to search for his phone. Quickly, he picked up the wireless phone, pulled the antenna up, and dialed the number. Though a bit hesitant to call this number, it was what he had wanted to do.

A lady picked up.

"Hello?" she said calmly.

At first, Yugi did not know what to say to her. He stood silent, trying to find the right words to say. He didn't want to screw up, not again.

"…Hello?" the lady asked again.

He finally racked up the courage to say something. He took a deep breath in and shut his eyes.

"Hi, Mom," he told her, almost whispering.

"Yugi? What the-how did you find this number?" she screamed in unpleasant surprise.

Assuming she was about to hang up with him, he started to talk fast.

"It doesn't matter. I just needed to talk to you," he began. "Look, I don't want the things that happened with us last time be the last thing that happens between us. I know that it was hard for you, with dad always gone and me getting older, but I always still cared about you and loved you. And even now, I still do. You're my mother, my family, one of the only people that was there for me."

He paused. His mother so far had no reaction, or at least none that he heard. He hoped he wasn't loosing her.

"I-I'm sorry," he stuttered. "I'm sorry for everything I did. I didn't mean to make you feel alone and abandoned."

His mother gave a long sigh.

"Mom just wait. I think I messed up, and I want to try again. Things will be different and better. I promise…" he said.

She cut him off.

"Just shut up!" she yelled. He couldn't quite understand it, but it sounded as if she were crying. "You're apologizing to me? For what? Yugi, don't you understand? You've done nothing!"

She began crying even harder.

"Leaving you and your grandpa was the hardest decision I've ever had to make, but I knew I had to do it, not because I couldn't tolerate you or him, but because of my failure as a strong mother."

"What are you talking about?" he asked her.

She sniffed.

"Yugi, I left because I needed to overcome my weakness, the weakness of being afraid of loneliness. I somehow have to get over this irritation I have. This eerie feeling of always feeling by myself, I have to stop it. If I live alone, then maybe I'll adapt to the true feeling of being lonely…and learn to appreciate the times when I am not."

Yugi did not know what to say.

"I guess…I didn't know what I really had," she said almost to herself. "Right now, I don't deserve to be with you and Sugoroku. I need to learn from this."

"Mom, you're never alone," he tried to tell her.

"Maybe I'm not," she sobbed, "but maybe that's something I need to learn on this journey, a personal journey, something I need to do on my own."

Yugi wanted to say something, but he found that he could not release words.

"Someday," she was crying hard. "Someday, I'm going to make up for my mistakes and everything I did to you. Someday, I'll come back to you when I'm strong enough and deserving of the opportunity. I'll make things right to you…but now's not the time."

He heard her blow her nose. Again, he had no response.

"My son, someday…I will make it up to you," she finished. "I-I love you…"

He didn't even have time to reply. He heard a click and knew she was gone. He was unsure when he would ever talk to her and see her again. Slowly, he hung up the phone and placed it back on the charger. He pushed the backpack off his bed and laid down, resting his head on his pillow. He couldn't stop thinking about when he would see the face of his mother.

* * *

A day or two had passed. Yugi, after going to the store after school, returned home, holding innocently a small paper bag. Yugi's grandpa greeted him.

"I um, have some news. Your mother, she's left. I'm not sure where she's gone to this time, but I can't imagine it being anywhere in Domino, at least not after what you told me about what she said," he told him. "If you want, I can get the address and number for you still."

Yugi smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

"No, grandpa, it's okay," he said. "I appreciate that you did that for me, but you don't have to do that this time. I think I'm better off just leaving the situation as it is. I can't fix everything."

Sugoroku smiled at him.

"Yugi, you'll do just fine," Sugoroku said to him. "Keep your head up with this one, too. In time, it will progress."

Yugi nodded and ran upstairs.

In spirit form, Yami Yugi stood beside Yugi, who had place the brown paper bag down as he retrieved something from underneath his bed. He watched Yugi pull out an old shoe box containing several broken glass pieces and an old photo.

"You don't want to forget her face?" Yami asked him.

"No, but I don't think I could," he replied. "I just don't know when I'll see her again. I don't want to go years without seeing it."

Yami Yugi watched Yugi pull the old photo from the depths of the glass shards and place it carefully on the bed. He poured the broken frame into the garbage in his room and put the shoe box back under his bed. He then went back to the brown paper bag, taking out a brand new wooden frame. Carefully, he placed the picture in it, and then placed it on a stand near his bed, where the old one used to be.

"The time will pass quickly, and soon enough, the two of you will be reunited," Yami Yugi assured him. "I'm just glad she's trying to correct everything."

"Yeah, me too," Yugi agreed. "In many ways, she and I are the same. We're both on a personal journey to find who we really are, to make ourselves stronger and ready to face what we hope is a bright future. One day, we'll see each other, and we'll be able to tell our stories."

Yami Yugi just sighed happily. He had grown so much since he first met Yugi, and he could not help but grin at that fact. With Yugi refreshed and stronger than ever, he was excited on going on the final journey with his partner soon.

"For now though, I think it's better just to accept the way things are," he concluded.

Yami Yugi nodded.

"Our journey is not yet over. We've one more thing to do," he reminded his alter ego. "I'm not going to let you down, just like you didn't let me down."

"I owe you so much," he said. "Aibou, you shouldn't worry about the future. With or without me, you're going to be incredible. You'll have so many opportunities ahead of you, and every obstacle you'll beat."

He grinned at Yugi, who returned the friendly smile. Yugi held up his Millennium puzzle. Yami Yugi put his hands under his, looking like he was holding the puzzle up with him. Their bond was unbreakable.

"Trust me," Yami Yugi said.

"No," Yugi corrected him. "Trust us."

_**Author's Note: FIN! Hope you liked the ending!**_

_**Thanks for reading (and reviewing if you did so). It is all very much so appreciated. Hmm, I think this one turned out way better than the last one, but still could definitely be better. Anyway, please give me some constructive criticism or a comment or a thumbs up or what not, it would be quite helpful.**_

_**Now…I must start my essays. Ugh. Well, until next time! Have a good one!**_


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